Friday, September 26, 2014

I can't help it if I'm lucky

The Word for today:
Proverbs 2, 3
mark this: Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding;
In all your ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct your paths.
In the Song of Solomon (blush!) God speaks of his Beloved.
Today I'm going to speak about mine.
Despite the sullied life I've led, God has graced me with one true sterling treasure. Her name is Michelle, but no one ever calls her that. Many call her "The Franchise," which is a pro sports term designating the one indispensable member of the team.
She is certainly that, and so much more.
Others call her "The Shellster." The article 'the' confers a uniqueness, an originality, an irreplacability upon the noun that follows it. She is all of that, and so much more.
Our sons call her "Mommy." I call her "Shelley." And because of her, I call myself lucky.
Shelley's favorite verse, her "life verse" from the Bible, is Proverbs 3:5-6:
Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding;
In all your ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct your paths.
Many Christians say they have a "life verse." But among those who say they have one, I say there are some who do and some who don't.
Because to me, a life verse is one you live up to. I, for one, would not claim Proverbs 3:5-6 as my life verse. I might call it a verse I aspire to, but my life does not yet match that verse.
My Shelley's life, however, is the very picture of that verse. Through the miracle of sheer faith, she has turned those words into flesh. And I have been blessed by the LORD Jesus Christ--for lo, these twenty-some years--to have witnessed this incarnation.
I can't say I have a life-verse, but I just showed you my life's miracle.
I can't help it if I'm lucky.
~~~~~~~~~~~

4 comments:

  1. Franklyn: I just couldn't pass these up because you remind me of me. Only difference is I have had mine for 46 years!!!
    Perhaps one of the following verses can be your life verse>>>

    Ecclesiastes 9:9

    and try this one

    Proverbs 18:22 "He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the LORD."

    There are many more verses like these that remind us husbands who our blessings come from.

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    1. I swear that a long series of wrong turns took me right to her! I will never understand how that works.

      Thanks for the verses. Whenever someone's life has taught him a verse and he recommends it to me, I look it up and linger over it and then walk away years smarter than I was the hour before.

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  2. You are not lucky ... you are very BLESSED and GRACED dear friend. Luck had nothing to do with it! Hope both of you are doing well. Karen and I are in Wilton, Maine for a month. We rented a house on Wilson Lake which is surrounded by the mountains of Western Maine. The trees are a symphony of color against the crystal blue skies - the leaf report just says we are at peak ~ but that just doesn't make it.

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  3. I've never thought of grace as a verb but come to think of it, it should be. It has to be!

    And I've never been to western Maine, so it remains on my (very short) list of regrets. I look at a map and I see that vast wild tract of land, seemingly as big as Texas but far more New England beautiful than the southwest could ever pretend to be. And it's not far away. I'm going to get there, Bob.

    I miss you guys. Please tell Karen Hi from me.

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