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Say "Cheese"

by Elsie Schuett Flynn  
10/18/2008 / Devotionals

Today was picture day at my Church. The member directory is updated every year or so and this year, photos are included. What a great way to associate names with faces. It will be a wonderful tool for folks who, like me, are new to the church family and for those who only attend either the early traditional or the later contemporary services.

I haven't had my picture taken in a long time. The last portrait type of photo I sat for was probably my 10th grade school picture. I've been mentally preparing myself for this event for a few months. I went for a much needed hair cut a few days ago, and followed-up with a home dye job. The box made me believe my hair would be yellow. However, it turned out more of a red tone than the golden blonde I was expecting. I guess it's okay, but it doesn't quite match my (dark) blonde eyebrows. The cut, at least, is pretty good. I wore my black "going-out-to-dinner" dress and the pearl necklace my husband gave me for Christmas a few years ago. So on the outside, I looked about as good as I can make myself look. Still way to chubby, but a lot better than last year.

I'm just glad the camera didn't capture what I feel like on the inside. I've been rather unpleasant of late, particularly to my husband. Probably because we've been spending a lot of time together at home, and life's pressures are a bit on the high side right now. When pressures increase, so do tempers; courtesy and kindness are all but forgotten about. Bickering and nit-picking goes on so much that before you know it, that behavior becomes the norm.

I read an article on-line yesterday. The author writes that God may use arguments or similar situations to bring our inner issues up front and to our attention, so we can recognize them and then, humble ourselves, repent, and let Him remove them from us. I believe this to be so true. I have thoughts and feelings that I need to work out, and it is not fair to my husband that I treat him badly because of it. The same applies for him. We have no right to take our frustrations out on each other. We're all we have.

The other day I said to my husband, all snippety-like, "Well, I can't be nice to you when you're not being nice to me!" As soon as I said it, God tapped on my heart and said, "Child, you are to be nice to him especially when he's not being nice to you. Don't you remember Jesus' words, 'one someone strikes your right cheek, turn and give him the other as well'?"

Things for me to do:

Pray, asking for grace and love from the Holy Spirit along with a double-dose of patience.
Forgive, so I can ask to be forgiven.
Put forth more of an effort to be genuinely kind and considerate.
Think more of my husband's feelings than of just my own.

With our Father's grace and guidance, and by practicing my own words, I know that soon our hearts will be smiling again.


Scriptures:

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10: "Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble."
1 Peter 3:9: "Don't repay evil for evil. Don't retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and he will bless you for it."
1 Corinthians 13:4-7: "Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

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