Goodnight

My dear Blogger friends,

I am very happy because I hope I made a friend with one of you, no names ever.

I thank God for the opportunity to get to know someone I like and pray for them, a couple.

I will post soon another little writing I have, hope you will like it. Is NOT a complicated and beautifully written poem or writing but I have to do since my first language is still Italian.

God bless you all.,

Later,

Pat.

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NIght Light For Couples

A Wife’s Countenance “He is to be free to stay at home and bring happiness to the wife he has married.” Deuteronomy 24:5 If you really want to know about a man and what kind of character he has, you need only look at the countenance of his wife. Everything he has invested, or withheld, will be there.” That was the message Bill McCartney, then head coach of the University of Colorado football team, heard in a 1994 sermon. The words cut straight to his heart. McCartney had built the Colorado football program into a powerhouse that won a national championship in 1990. He had also cofounded a national men’s movement, Promise Keepers. But those achievements came at a price. For years McCartney had withheld his time and energy from his wife, Lyndi, and their four children. In 1994 Bill McCartney didn’t like what he saw in Lyndi’s countenance— so he resigned his position at Colorado to devote more time to his wife and family. As a husband, you bear the primary responsibility for your wife’s welfare and emotional well‐being. What do you see in her face tonight? Just between us… (husband) Do you ever feel like you’re competing for my attention? (husband) Do I appear preoccupied by my work or recreational activities? (wife) What do you imagine it was like for Bill McCartney to walk away from his successful coaching career? (wife) Do you ever struggle with trying to care for my emotional well‐being? Is there anything I can do to help? (husband) Almighty God, with Your help I wholeheartedly accept my responsibility to care for my wife’s emotional well-being. May I increasingly become a master at it, so that I can see joy and contentment in her face. Amen. From Night Light For Couples, by Dr. James & Shirley Dobson Copyright © 2000 by James Dobson, Inc. All rights reserved. Quotation from From Ashes to Glory by Bill McCartney (Nashville, Tenn.: Thomas Nelson, Inc., Publishers, 1995).

Bible Gateway

NIght Light For Parents

Strength to Carry On Our competence comes from God. 2 Corinthians 3:5 Every mother deserves our support and admiration, but the single mom (or dad) merits a double dose. She must locate available and safe child-care services, work for eight or more hours every day, pick up the kids, stop by the grocery store, then come home to cook dinner, wash the dishes, change the diapers, help with the homework, bathe the preschoolers, read a story, dry a tear, say a prayer, and tuck the kids into bed. Then, after perhaps twelve hours of such toil and mothering responsibilities, she must tackle the household chores. It’s an assignment that will overwhelm even the most skillful and dedicated parent. That’s why those of us in two-parent families must reach out in Christian love to single moms and their children. No matter what your circumstances, Mom, your best avenue to success is daily dependence on the Lord. Without regular prayer and supplication on behalf of your children, your task is simply too daunting. When you’re feeling that one more runny nose or whiny cry will send you over the edge, lay your burdens at His feet. The “Father of compassion and the God of all comfort” (2 Corinthians 1:3) will give you the strength to carry on. Before you say good night… Do you know a single mother who needs encouragement and help? When you feel discouraged, do you turn to the Lord for solace? Do you regularly seek direction in Scripture? Father of compassion and comfort, thank You for loving and caring for us! We know that no matter how difficult the journey, You are there to pick us up and point us in the right direction. Wrap us daily in Your arms as we do the same with our children. Amen. From Night Light For Parents, by Dr. James & Shirley Dobson Copyright © 2000 by James Dobson, Inc. All rights reserved.

Bible Gateway

40 Day Journey Day 33

Every act of self-discipline by a Christian is also a service to the community. Conversely, there is no sin in thought, word, or deed, no matter how personal or secret, that does not harm the whole community. When the cause of an illness gets into one’s body, whether or not anyone knows where it comes from, or in what member it has lodged, the body is made ill. This is the appropriate metaphor for the Christian community. Every member serves the whole body, contributing either to its health or to its ruin, for we are members of one body not only when we want to be, but in our whole existence. This is not a theory, but a spiritual reality that is often experienced in the Christian community with shocking clarity, sometimes destructively and sometimes beneficially. Biblical Wisdom For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. Romans 12:4-5 Questions to Ponder What do you think Bonhoeffer means by an “act of self-discipline”? How can an individual’s sins “harm the whole community”? What are the implications of Bonhoeffer’s assertion that, “we are members of one body not only when we want to be, but in our whole existence”? Psalm Fragment Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts. See if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Psalm 139:23-24 Journal Reflections Reflect on your experience in your community of faith. Does it feel like a living body of which you are a member? Explain. How might you better serve “the whole body”? Prayer for Today Holy God, thank you that you have made me a member of the Body of Christ; help me keep healthy that I may not harm the whole body. Bible Gateway