Donalacasa's Daybook: Monday, November 13, 2017

Outside my window...

It has been so overcast that it has been difficult for me to function. This is very unusual for
where I live, which makes it all the more difficult.

I am thinking...

Friend Hubby and I have so many things in common as far as the families we grew up in it is
funny. We both have brothers named Steven or Stephen, we both have brothers named Chris
or Crys. We both have sisters born on August 5th, and we both have had stepfathers named
Peter. That is funny to me because of all the characters in the Bible, the one I associate most
with Friend Hubby is Peter. An article on Got Questions? called What can we learn from the
life of Peter? lists some characteristics of Peter that remind me of my Friend Hubby.

• Peter was enthusiastic, strong-willed, impulsive, and, at times, brash. But for all his strengths, Peter had several failings in his life. Still, the Lord who chose him continued to mold him into exactly who He intended Peter to be.
• Being a natural-born leader, Peter became the de facto spokesman for the Twelve.
• In several instances, Peter showed himself to be impetuous to the point of rashness. For example, it was Peter who left the boat to walk on the water to Jesus (Matthew 14:28-29)—and promptly took his eyes off Jesus and began to sink (verse 30). 
• It was Peter who took Jesus aside to rebuke Him for speaking of His death (Matthew 16:22)—and was swiftly corrected by the Lord (verse 23). 
• It was Peter who drew his sword and attacked the servant of the high priest (John 18:10)—and was immediately told to sheath his weapon (verse 11). 
• It was Peter who boasted that he would never forsake the Lord, even if everyone else did (Matthew 26:33)—and later denied three times that he even knew the Lord (verses 70-74). 

In many of those instances I can look at Peter and say, "Yep, I can certainly see Friend Hubby doing that." The down side to that is that when Peter falls, he falls hard. In Matthew 26:75, we see Peter weeping bitterly over his failure. In John 21, we see that after the Messiah's death, Peter went back to what he knew, what was familiar and when John told him that the man speaking to them was the Messiah, he covered himself with a garment and leaped into the sea because of his shame. (This is where the similarity would end, as Friend Hubby cannot swim and would never jump into the sea.) Have you ever heard Bill Wilson preach the message Go Tell The Disciples & Peter? It is based on Mark 16:7, "But go, tell his disciples and Peter, 'He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.'" Wasn't Peter one of the disciples? Why did Yeshua say to tell the disciples and Peter? Bill Wilson's ministry is something we have always admired because he is not afraid to go into the lion's den in order to minister to those who need it. It's been over 20 years since I first heard him preach this message, but listening to him again while I write this blog is blessing and encouraging me and reminding me of all the ministry that Friend Hubby and I have had the privilege to do together.

In 1 Corinthians 9:5, Paul let's us know that Peter travels on his missionary journeys with his wife. I can understand that. One of my favorite Scriptures on marriage was written by Peter in 1 Peter 3. I think Peter's wife was essential to his ministry because there were times that no one could speak to him like she could.

Some people are like a table that people stand on. They think nothing of resting all their weight on the table but when the table gives way under the pressure, they walk away from the table instead of trying to put the pieces back together again. In this year, Friend Hubby has bought me a new car for my birthday, taken our family on a vacation to remember, and oversaw a fabulous Sukkot for our community as well as many other things. We had company after company and his sleep cycles were thrown so far off that he became extremely sleep deprived and then the time changed. Although he eventually caught up with his sleep, the shame of that weakness served to further drive him into depression and we have had a very difficult couple of weeks.

I am so thankful for my support system that has prayed for us through this time. I am especially thankful that I had the presence of mine to reach out to someone that I know has dealt with this personally. She gave me some wonderful advice and helped me to think more clearly about what I needed to do.

Proverbs 14:1 CJB, "Every wise woman builds up her home, but a foolish one tears it down with her own hands." I have often referred to Friend Hubby as being my "house," while I am his "home." I have a choice. I can kick him while he's down and tear him down with my own hands, or I can build him up. Some of you won't be old enough to remember The Six Million Dollar Man.

When we first got to Germany, I spoke and understood very little German and the money was foreign so when I got to a checkout counter, I would count VERY SLOWLY. One day, the checker yelled at me in German. "Eine mark funf! Eine mark funf!" I cried at her impatience with me. On the other hand, I have seen Americans go into other countries and tell the natives that THEY needed to learn to speak English. (shaking my head). Why do we yell at people who don't understand our language as if yelling will make them understand? The only thing they understand is our frustration. I think that's how we use love languages. We yell at people in our own love language and then get frustrated that they don't understand our love for them. Then we get angry and give up.

I realized today that I have been trying to communicate in my own love language and not his. I have been making greater effort to make sure that it is through his love language that I am speaking and for the first time in DAYS, I am seeing some progress and I am thankful no matter how small it is. I saw this in Pinterest first thing this morning and later, this article came across my news feed: 50 Ways to Love Your Husband with Acts of Service. So, I'm accepting that I may not make an A on everything this week. My pride in my schoolwork is taking a backseat so that I can get my priorities back in order so that I can make sure Friend Hubby can hear me.

Shalom,