"You can give without loving, but you can never love without giving." ~ Robert Louis Stevenson

Tuesday morning table group leader for the women's Bible study. 

Well, look over yonder and see what's coming down the track. Yeah. It's Wednesday, July 22, 2026, and it is another day we have to pause long enough to thank God and give Him praise. That lady in the photo is none other than the wife of my youth, and I haven't really said much about her of late, but after being married to her for 61-plus years, I can't even begin to describe the blessing she is in my life, in our family, and to so many others. She carries with her the God-given spiritual gift described as helps or service, and she personifies the description: "A practical desire to assist, support, and serve the needs of others in the church." I'll not get into a discussion of whether one can possess more than one supernaturally provided gift, but she just might make that case in the way she functions in life. Extrovert in the extreme, but she lives with an introvert by nature, and that makes for an interesting combination. I have no idea whether the axiom that opposites attract holds true, but I do know there are differing talents and abilities within a marriage that help make it work. At times it can be a wee bit of a tension builder, like when she chooses to visit with the cashier for an extended conversation and I happen to be ready to leave and go home. One of my most important callings is that of loving her in the same way Christ loved the Church and gave Himself up for her. (Reference as given in Ephesians 5:25) Because we both continue to have that old man nature to deal with, this can be very challenging; however, with the help of Holy Spirit God, it can be done. The toughest part of that calling is the example of our Savior because He sacrificed His very life for His bride, the Church. The bottom line: I have work to do. What say you?

 

Does she have annoying habits that still drive me up the wall? She does, but when I stop and think about it, she doesn't have nearly as many as I provide for her to consider. Ha! I guess I will say this about our long time together: Overlook it. If it's not crucial, overlook it and keep on keeping on. You may have to bite your lip now and then, but in the grand scheme of things, it just doesn't usually amount to, as they used to say back where I grew up, "It doesn't amount to a hill of beans." I'm not meaning to imply there aren't important issues that need to be addressed, but most of what we deal with doesn't amount to much, and we should keep that in mind. I am doing my best to become an effective 'overlooker' which may not be a word, but I think it gets across my point. Caring enough. Meanwhile, she has her own responsibility to seek to live out God's instructions to her as a wife. If we are both seeking to be who God would have us to be, well, it makes for a better life. It does. It really does. Y'all enjoy the rest of your day and always know that our Sovereign God cared enough and He loved enough to send His Son to die for the most unworthy of us all. He did. He really did. Amen.