Responsibility & Power

Yesterday
We had Gary & Danita, and Elizabeth Jackson over for dinner. Jaime made a Tex-Mex feast! I ate one large burrito and 4 or 5 small ones, I could have continued eating, but they began to take away the food. I was just trying to help clean up. :-)

Then our friends from 襄樊 (Xiāngfán) arrived from the airport on their way to Europe. They are just staying for the night and returning sometime around February 3, when they'll stay for a few nights to see the city. Their taxi dropped them at the wrong gate, their phones were running out of money, and they continued wondering around our community, until we eventually saw each other in the public square at the center of it all. The Boy Scouts teach that if you are ever lost, don't move. Stay where you are and wait for help. I like this idea a lot. I wish I would have remembered it at the beginning of the adventure.

I have been trying to be better about being on time. In fact, I want to be 5 minutes early for most everything. Yesterday, I was early to class, my dental appointment, but not to bed.

The Daily Bible - Genesis 18-19
God visits Abraham, Sarah laughs & lies, Lot is rescued from Sodom & Gomorrah, Lot's daughters get him drunk and have children by him.

This is such an interesting section of Scripture. God's mercy, grace, and blessings are so overwhelming, yet the sinfulness of man is confounding. If only Lot would have listened initially and his wife would have had more faith. If only Lot would have repented and trusted God to show him a community that was healthy and holy where his daughters could find husbands.

If only... in what areas am I able to change today? I can't change the past, but I can change my responses to the situations I face today. I can't change or predict the future. I do have power and faith from God that will provide me with strength enough and love enough to be victorious, overcoming all obstacles, to have a healthy and proactive life.

Boundaries in Marriage - Applying the Ten Laws of Boundaries to Marriage
Law #2: The Law of Responsibility
We are responsible to each other, but not for each other.

From Galatians 6:2,5, "Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ." and "...for each one should carry his own load." The burden is a great big, nearly crushing weight that needs to be helped with, while a load is the daily weight of responsibilities that we should be responsible for. Compare a financial or health crisis with the a bad moods. A husband/wife is responsible to assist their spouse in dealing with an overwhelming burden, but should not try to make the other happy everyday.

Law #3: The Law of Power
I can not change others, I can barely change myself, but I can influence others.

The fruit of the Spirit is self-control, not other control (Galatians 5:23). God himself does not exercise such power over us, even though he could (2 Peter 3:9). Realistically we all do things we hate (Romans 7) and we all need to take the plank out of our own eye, then assist the other their speck (Matthew 7). No spouse is perfect, every spouse contributes to the problems in their marriage. However, we can influence one another for good. When one takes the plank out of their own eye through confession, repentance, and seeking empathy, that one is changing the dance of marriage. In changing how one partner dances, the partnership of the dance will change, their partner's dance steps will change. This can bring about a strong resistance, but if one is committed to God and willing to face the difficulties of changing the dance, then in the long run the dance can be increasingly beautiful, romantic, and honoring to God.

Prayer
Thank you Lord for Jaime! She has been a real blessing to me. We have learned so much about ourselves, personally and as a couple. We are thankful for your promptings to read, study, and pray together. God please keep us continually drawing closer to you and one another. Gives us hearts for service to the world around us and give us time and abilities to match!