All About Love - Victoria Botkin, Notes by Beth Braun

Let’s begin with some questions that have been asked…

Question: What if your husband doesn't have vision?

Answer: All husbands do have vision—but what is it? (You do need to know it to help him.) All men have been discipled by the world but Christian men are trying to have their minds renewed. To best help him at whatever stage he’s at, and all men are at different stages in their walks: pray! There are two ways you can pray: 1. Pray fervently that God inspires your husband with the right vision for your family and 2. Pray for the grace to support your husband with his current vision, and then try to find out all you can about what it is. Ask questions along this line: I’m learning a lot about how I can support you, so how can I pray for you intelligently about your vision for the family? So you can help him implement his vision.

Question: If Biblical femininity is about helping your husband, what about biblical femininity for young, unmarried women?

Answer: Woman helping man is what it’s about—being a confidante, help, friend. Especially in a marriage, you should be this way. Our goal for daughters is to train them, both in their attitude toward their father and their brothers and their future husband, and to equip them with useful skills, to be able to help their future husbands. The goal is more than just “housekeeping”; they can be a practical help like doing the bookkeeping for his business.

Question: “...sometimes the demands on me just seem like too much... (This woman has 11 children and has had a traumatic year due to a variety of very difficult circumstances.) Especially when my husband says that I do a terrible job running the house and home school. Should I quit schooling at home to keep a better run house?”

Answer: Hard year…seems like too much is happening… I’ve been there and d

one that. It should cause you to draw nearer to God. What does Psalm 55:22 say? “Cast your burden on the LORD, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.” In the Hebrew, ‘cast’ means ‘to roll it off’. Yes, we don’t have the strength--to even throw our burden off, so we can only roll it off our shoulders—onto Him. If things seem like too much, ask your husband for ideas to help you. Eliminate extras (remember the streamlining tip last time), stick on getting the necessities done when the kids are little.

If you are asking, “Should I put my children in public school so that I can keep a better-run house?” the answer is NO! The housework is nothing in comparison to the value of the children. Don’t stop teaching your kids at home and put them back in public school! Deuteronomy 6 contains no mention of housework but it does mention your responsibility in educating your children. You will tear your house down if you send them off to public school! You will be guilty of a serious offense—before God—by letting the ungodly educate your children when God has command that YOU do it. It’s a sinful, spiritual abuse of them!

Maybe you’ll need to take some time off from “school” at home to prioritize things. When you have a house full of children, you can only stay on top of all the work with the help of your children. So train the kids to help with the housework. Training tip: First, you do the task, while he/she watches. Next, do it together. Finally, let him or her do it while you watch. If your child has it down, OK, but it doesn’t mean you don’t keep an eye out on the housework. Lavish praise and encouragement on them when they do things, tell them how it helps the family, that their contribution IS important, that they ARE important to the welfare of the family. Revamp your housecleaning plan. It’s an important part of education, too! ALL work counts as “school.” Training your children to do useful work is an important part of their education.

But really, the Bible does not command “school” for our children but it does command us to educate them. What your goals are for the children’s “school”...are you just trying to recreate a “school” environment? Don’t recreate a public school environment at home, do things the public school class way. One of the most important educational goals we should have is to teach our children to teach themselves. They can then learn things you don’t know yourself, that ‘you can’t possibly teach them because you don’t know it yourself.’ Do you know how many things my kids learned how to do that I don’t know anything about, simply because I taught them to learn for themselves? A child who can teach himself is prepared for life.

Older kids, like 13 and up can take charge of a lot of their own education. One of the best things you can do for your older children, educationally, is to have them help teach the younger ones. Thinking like this should help you be in better shape…

Question: I have been counseled by an older woman in our church to focus on being my husband’s help meet where he is struggling. Whatever it is that he is struggling in, then we are to consider that God gave him us to do the things he is not able to do. This seems different from the Biblical encouragement you are providing to “accept your situation and God’s control over it”. When should we step in and take on roles that our husband is failing in, or should we?

Answer: Circumstances you can step in and help him with are like if he needs help with his business, help him do his work or do the accounting for him. If your hands are full with just keeping the house and training the young kids, do that—it helps him too when you manage the home for him. (But don’t take a job under another man just to make money, that sort of help.)

Question, continued: You also ask, “Also, the other women at church tell me that I should have an “outside ministry”. I feel that I have enough going on in my home, just training my children and raising and homeschooling them. Where I live, “outside ministry” is touted as more spiritual, no matter what is happening with the children during that time. What is my best response to these ladies and how do I overcome those feelings of inadequacy in what I am doing?

Answer: Coupled with the above question, it sounds like you’re dealing with some Christian feminists. These type older women advising younger homeschooling mothers, I hear this often...These older women mean well, but they probably didn’t have any good, biblical teaching about the home, children, and marriage while they were growing up. That was what happened with their generation and now we’re trying to reclaim the biblical teachings now. Their suggestions are often completely unbiblical, but be respectful to them, honor them but don’t listen to any advice you know is unbiblical.

Question: I’m at a church where there is a continual stream of comments and barbs being injected into conversations concerning how we’re raising our kids...what we teach them or don’t teach them...that I don’t “work”...that I defer to my husband...”

Answer: Well, why go to a church like that? I know, you’re now saying, “but there’s no other one around.“ Well, is what you describe REALLY fellowship? Is this church equipping you, helping your kids and family with this sort of talk? Such churches are ruining wives and kids with these ‘friendships’. But don’t put ‘friends’ above what’s right for your family. I know some families desperate to have real fellowship that drive 2-3 hrs for it. The church should be to for the building up of the believers. But, if your husband wants to stay there, pray and submit but don’t let the ladies get you down. You may be able to help your husbands by directing them to www.ncfic.org (The National Center for Family-Integrated Churches.) Let your confidence be that you are trying to be pleasing to the Lord and your husband, not these women. Don’t let yourself be bullied but be polite, and say, excuse yourself and go talk to other women.

Question: I feel like I am correcting my little boys all day long. Telling them, “calm down” when their playing gets too lively, or “use an inside voice” when their voices get way too loud. “Don’t squirm in your seat at the table,” when it’s excessive and could cause spills, etc. They are 6 and almost 5. I know I need to let them be boys and I do try to let them play outside as much as possible. I want to teach them to have fun doing calm things, but everything seems to lead to boisterousness. Is this a process or is the fact that I’m still correcting a 6 year old an indication that I’m not training well? When does it become a discipline issue when they don’t do what we expect automatically? Is this just the nature of children their age? I just don’t know what to expect from them...”

Answer: Don’t be discouraged—they’re little still. God made boys rambunctious, active, noisy...they are little dominion men! Their testosterone levels are 10X that of a woman, and in the teens, like 3X that! That’s why they don’t function in “school” well. God didn’t create them for a school-type environment. But they aren’t to be allowed to be shrieking hooligans! The time for quiet is when you say so....you need to train them to obey you when you ask for quiet, and obey instantly. Just remember, they are not wired like ladies, so give them room to be boys. (Public schools have almost succeeded in making them ladies—but you should not try to!) Her kids did crazy things as little ones—with the windows…paint cans…but they’ve become godly men now, those noisy boys! They were just being boys... and that is a wonderful, glorious, God-glorifying thing! Your husband has a better idea of what to expect from noisy boys—he was once one, too! Get your husband’s advice on how much to rein them in and when, and where. And you can pray that the Lord will help you learn to love their noisy, boisterous spirits. We NEED strong, active fighters, men, in this country. We have already got too many men in this country who learned in school to sit still, be quiet and just do what they were told.

Question: I have 9 children ages 14- 3. Sometimes many reproving and instruction issues can pile up, and it can take quite a while to sort them all out and deal with them in a calm manner. Any suggestions?

Answer: I know when I was too busy to discipline my children biblically...I WAS frazzled by the end of the day when my husband came home. This is an important verse: Prov 29:17 “Correct your son, and he will give you comfort; he will also delight your heart.” Diligently correcting—over a ‘long time’—will bear good fruit. Prov 29:15 says, “The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame.” Other kids see one being disciplined with justice and fall in line. The Bible instructs us on how to discipline—don’t try alternative methods—they don’t work.

Tonight, “Love” is the topic, what it isn’t...what it is. Is it really about Cupid and Valentine’s Day?

The REAL question is: Why do we humans think so much about love? Stripped down, it’s a basic human elemental need. We're afraid, and we're lonely. We need to know that someone is saying to us: "Do not fear for I am with you...I will strengthen you...I will uphold you...I will never leave you."But guess what? No man will ever be perfect; a man will always disappoint you. Only God will always be there for you.

Our need for love is mentioned first in Gen 32:10, when Jacob says: “I am not worthy of the least of all the deeds of steadfast love and all the faithfulness that you have shown to your servant...” All through Genesis we see members of the covenant family of Abraham thanking God for his love. He reminds them of His love for them, continually showing it, because He knows they need to know it. God is love, and we are created in His image. Our need for love is related to our need for God. God is love. We are image bearers of the One who is love, so we need to give and receive it. God is love. Wives, and women in general, appear to have a special need for love. Eph 5:25 “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her” Eph 5:28 “In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.” Eph 5:33 “However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.” Col 3:19 “Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them.”

Look at what these verses say! Now, this isn’t ammo to use against your husband—this not about what HE should be doing for YOU. We're here tonight to talk about what we should be doing for them. Don’t worry about their specks and beams, focus on your own. We're studying women's need for love in order to help us understand ourselves...to help us to be on our guard… we need to know that this can be a weakness. Our need for love makes us vulnerable. Just look at all the movies, books, magazines, music, the psychology business—they are capitalizing on “love” and they all are influencing us to develop certain expectations. We need to ask ourselves what we have learned about love from Hollywood. What have we learned to expect from men...and how Biblical is it?

One thing they teach us is that the woman has a man focused on her to exclusion of almost all else. Now, are we disappointed to find that we are not the sole focus of our husband’s attention? Is this Biblical? They tell us how men are to be: handsome, rich, witty, intelligent, strong, etc. A more modern woman’s fantasy---to be women who are completely independent of men, except as lifestyle accessories. Fantasies about men only lead to discontentment. Now the female stars teach us we are completely able to compete and win in the world. But we are not like any old or new movie stars—nor are biblical men. Now we know men and women aren't really like the people in movies...but somehow we may still be expecting them to be. Don’t as a Christian be influenced by the movies to think a certain way. It’s NOT harmless ‘entertainment’ or ‘amusement.’ We can’t watch anything or read anything with our minds disconnected. We have to be on guard continually, watching critically, analytically, holding everything up to the standard we learn from Scripture.

Do you ever compare your husband to a character in a book or movie and wish he were more like that? If your man isn’t like the movie actor …remember he doesn’t have the perfect movie script. Be careful! If what you are reading or watching is not helping you love your husband, you shouldn’t be reading or watching what you are... Don’t expect of him what you wouldn’t have of you. Remember, Hollywood’s ideal is selfish, not sacrificial. We Christians are to live firmly in the here and now (not in fantasy world), giving thanks for what we have, and praying for what we need.

Question: Aren’t there some Christian romance novels that would be good, safe reading for our daughters? Many of them promote courtship models and take place in historical settings.”

Answer: It’s challenging to find edifying reading material for daughters. But I believe that genre is unhelpful and dangerous. The heroine’s life centers around romance. The climax of her life is the romance. But your daughter’s life shouldn’t be focused solely on courtship and romance. Thinking about romance doesn’t prepare girls for marriage – only focusing on real life prepares girls for marriage.

One woman told her: "After a few years of reading these novels, I found that my marriage was not as strong or as holy as it should be because I would begin to fantasize so often after reading these novels.” Now these novels weren’t graphic, just planted discontent thoughts like, why isn’t he treating me this way, why can’t he be like that... This train of thought will lead to unrealistic expectations for a spouse. God made him a certain way and so we develop contempt for how God made him. They aren’t to be like the novels—it’s a cheap humanistic imitation. Movies and romance novels don’t just give us false expectations, they give us sinful expectations. Escapism is a kind of idolatry because it trains us to prefer man’s “reality” to God’s.

Romance novels usually present an emphasis on feelings and a glorification of feelings, rather than objectivity and rationality. Is this how we want our daughters to think about men? One woman’s assessment of a novel she read: “…the whole thing was full of enticing descriptions of the young men’s physical appearances…I was fantasizing compulsively about my 'prince charming' and creating in my mind 'the perfect guy'. I wouldn't focus on the jobs the Lord had given me to do in the here and now but would always be wanting to get back to my book as I was still caught up in their world. I would continually be desiring the future, never being content with what God has called me to here and now." Matthew 5:29 warns, "If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.”

So what does the Bible teach us about the relationship between men and women? What should we expect a biblical marriage relationship to look like? Hollywood teaches us to focus on ourselves...on the desires of our flesh. Yet Eve wasn’t created to be Adam’s focal point but she was specifically created as a helpmeet, with a job to do. His work for the kingdom should be his focus—not you, so grow up and get over it. Focusing on yourself is a Hollywood mindset. But Scripture teaches us that (Rom 8:6-7) “The mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot.” Also, look at this verse: Mat 6:33—“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” What should you really be seeking? Man was made for work: to be fruitful and multiply, replenish the earth, subdue it, have dominion, make disciples of all nations… You know, it's really very romantic to be co-laborers in the gospel...fellow-heirs of the grace of life!

So, what does the Bible says about love? The Bible has over 500 verses dealing with love. I did a study on the computer on the word love, looking at all the verses together, the spirit of it, and you know, this is what being a Christian is all about. Coleridge the famous poet asked, “Is love a feeling or a fantasy?” God defined it for us in the Bible. John 15:12 "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” John 15:13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” 1Jn 3:16 “By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.”

Love is an action not a feeling or fantasy like we’ve been taught by the world. It’s being willing to live for someone else. To meet others’ needs at one’s own expense, so others have—even if you don’t. It’s sacrificial. 1Jn 3:10 “By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.” 1Jn 3:14 “We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death.” 1Jn 4:8 “Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” 1Jn 4:20 “If anyone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.”

This love God’s talking about is dying to self and living for others. We need to evaluate ourselves: are we really Christians? 2Cor 13:5 “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?--unless indeed you fail to meet the test!” Some of the questions I’m being asked by you ladies indicate selfishness to me is your motive, rather than self-sacrifice. Ask yourself: is my life characterized by love of my husband, kids, and other believers? What I’m saying is that you should examine yourself, if you seem to be unable to love your family, to see whether you are in the faith.

We all stumble at times and make mistakes, but is your life characterized by love or not? Mat 7:21 "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” A Christian is characterized by obedience to the Word of God. His obedience is not what saves him, for it says in Eph 2:8, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.” But as a result of our salvation …our lives will be different, like it says here: 2 Cor 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” A Christian will be characterized by these things as it says in Gal 5:22-24—“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”

Assume we examine ourselves and find we are in the faith; then this is how we should live with each other. 1Cor 16:14 “Let all that you do be done in love.” Everything that we do should be done in love. There is no neutral territory. No time off from this way of life…no “ME time.”But I’m not saying we shouldn’t rest and take care of ourselves, just do it for the sake of others, not for ‘ME time.’ 2 Cor 5:14-15 “For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.” Gal 5:13 “For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.” Now this is love in action: Col 3:12-14—“Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.”

Let’s look at the passage in 1 Cor 13, ‘the most important love verses’ people think about:

Verses 1-3—“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.” Outwardly spiritual actions without love are a sham. They are just spiritual games if you’re not characterized by a ‘fruit of the Spirit’ love. It’s not my opinion but what Scripture says.

Verses 4-8: “Love is patient, love is kind and is not envious, love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth, Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.”

Wow, there’s lots of room for thought on these verses, especially for those we love the most: our family. It’s easy for us to be like this when we’re with people from our church people, but it’s harder to do with the family at home, who we are with constantly—we think we just don’t have the time to do it…

First in verse 4: Patience. Love is patient. How do you have this…when we are tired and stressed? Yes, it is harder to be patient. A tip if you are running ragged: take a nap, even if you don’t ‘have the time’. If it means you have to give up your scrapbooking or blogging, then do that first, not the important things you do need to do. You may have to take a nap when your children do. As mothers, trying to get enough rest is something we do for our families. Do it for their sakes, not yourself. Choose the better part—be patient even if you are tired, pregnant, stressed, etc., but if you have physical needs especially if you’re pregnant or sick, do it, but not to indulge your flesh. I’m not telling you that you get to be self-indulgent. I remember when my rowdy boys would interrupt me while I was sewing. I didn’t react well. I realized sewing was not as important as having a good relationship with them. Matt 18:9 “And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away.”I gave up sewing for a season because the temptation for her to sin against her boys by stumbling them because of her behavior. Maybe you need to give something up.

Love is kind. More about this in a later talk.

Verse 5: Unselfishness or “seeketh not it’s own” in another version. What a verse: Phil 2:4 “Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.” You think of others’ welfare. Do a study on all the ‘one another verses in the Bible. This is what this verse is about: others. It’s amazing what how we are called to be with ‘one another.’ (NOTE: I do have a list put together...if I have the time I will post it as a note, too.) I love using the computer Bible program. It is so helpful to study the Word. You know with all the technology and tools we have today, we should be the most biblically literate people in history! She uses E-sword (I use it too, it’s great!) This program is free at http://www.e-sword.net/

Verse 6: Rejoicing in truth. Love rejoices with the truth. John 14:6 “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” The ultimate truth is the gospel, who Christ is, so searching out truth is important. For example, how do we talk about each other? Find out if things are really true before you pass them along. If we hear something juicy…if it’s true…do we gossip by passing it on, or is your motive honestly for the person’s good? We should not delight in passing on bad news…things that bring shame on others. Watch your motive when talking!

Verse 7: Being longsuffering: “Love bears all things.” Phil 4:13 “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” Rom 15:5 “May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus.”God will grant us endurance to bear hard things--if we pray for it. Col 1:11 “May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy…” God gives abundantly in answer to prayer. Heb 12:1 “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.” Here’s a clue also, how to have more endurance, by laying aside entangling sin that burdens us.

And Love believes all things—as in the best about each other. The law says that defendants should be presumed innocent until proven guilty. Do we operate this way? Proverbs has much to say on our speaking. Don’t just repeat things without proof—it’s needed. Don’t just believe any slander you hear…wait and see if the bitter tale is true or not. Is there an ax to grind? Are the ones spreading this bitter at the person or don’t like the biblical teaching? If you hear slander about a person who is a respected leader, a person whose teaching has been a blessing to you…don’t listen to it…don’t repeat it.

And Love hopes all things.—There are dozens of verses about hope in the Bible. Here are some: 1Thess 5:8 “…having put on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a helmet the hope of salvation.” Heb 10:23 “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.” 1Pe 1:13 “set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

And Love endures all things— Love that is…true love…endures misunderstandings, failures, delays, hopes for things that never came to pass, sickness, separation, etc. In other words, Love never fails.

Verses 4: It’s not envious. Imagine David bursting in on the scene after killing the mighty Goliath…it became pretty obvious he was going to be next king. But guess what? Even though the natural reaction would be for Jonathan to hate David, Jonathan didn’t even though he was going to ‘lose his throne’ to him. He knew David was God’s man and didn’t envy him for that. Don’t be resentful or envious of another’s gifts. The key to overcoming envy is to recognize that a person’s gifts are from God. And be content with what God’s given you.

Love is not boastful. Prov 27:2 “Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips.”

Nor is it arrogant—Jas 4:6 "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble." There is a certain kind of pride, a ‘superiority over other’s’ type. As the NASB says, it’s self-explanatory; Love is not rude, irritable or resentful.

Being resentful. This is important: don’t focus on it. Bitterness is really dangerous. Heb 12:15 “See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no "root of bitterness" springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled” Bitterness causes trouble, defiles, separates, steals our joy and spreads, defiling many. And we wives probably all have things we think we can legitimately be bitter about. This is what the verse means when it says, love does not take into account a wrong suffered. All our husbands have failed us, disappointed us, not met our expectations, hurt us—in some way—and these are the best Christian ones. It’s worse if they’re not Christians!

But love doesn’t keep a mental list of all the hurts and resentment. Eph 4:31 “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.” If you only remember one verse from tonight, hold on to this one! Don’t store up bitterness to someday make him make it up to you—let it go. No one can possibly make up for years of accumulated bitterness. Let the Lord work out. Bitterness is like the weeds in a garden -you have to keep it weeded out constantly, as weeds constantly spring up! Only the Lord can meet all our needs. Eph 4:32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” Bitterness about the past WILL poison the present.

And as for grievances—well are YOU so perfect? Doesn’t your husband have reason to be bitter toward you? Perhaps that’s why these verses were written, too: Col 3:19 “Husbands, love your wives, and do not be embittered against them. Eph 4:31-32 “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”

Last tip on how to love your husband: show him affection, even if you don’t want to because there is strife between you. It will help heal strife between you if you do it. “Be kind to one another…tenderhearted.” Husbands need our love and affection at all times. Do little things for him, kiss on the top of his head, pat his arm... How long is it since you thanked your husband for working hard all day and providing for the family? Be sober and think what would you have done differently…if your husband went out the door and never came home…the car accident statistics are chilling. Do you really appreciate him for all he does—and show it? Go ahead, kiss him goodbye when he leaves the house. Show him little acts of kindness…like buying his favorite ice cream… Forgive him as Christ has forgiven you…

2 Thess 3:5 “May the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.”