Matt and Charlie

Matt and I arriving at our son's  home for a visit.

 



The measure of a Godly Husband and Father 

 

Today as it is Father's Day, I am reflecting on my husband Matt, the father of our three adult children, Matthew, Amy, and Mark.  We have been married now for

35 years and I can only say I feel so blessed to have him as my husband and best friend.

 

He has blessed me and our children in so many ways.  Matt is not a boisterous, macho type of man.  He is more the strong but gentle kind of husband and father that makes his wife and children feel secure and loved. He is a man of integrity and godly character. 

He might be described by some today as old fashioned in his values.  He values God, his family, his work and his country. 

 

My husband is a praying man who daily prays for me and our grown children. As the children were growing up, he was involved in the everyday care of our children, helping with diapering, feeding, taking the children to the park, reading to them, helping with homework, driving them places, helping them with decisions as they got older and most importantly, he prayed for them every morning as part of his routine before leaving for work. 

 

Matt truly loves in a sacrificial way.  He often would make sure the kids or I had things we needed before he would get things he needed.  I would often have to "nag" him to get new shoes for himself during the years we had three growing teenagers who needed shoes all the time it seemed!  I remember many times Matt giving our young adult and adult children help financially as we were able to for things like instruments, schooling, help with cars, moving expenses and more.

 

His sacrificial ways extended to giving to the work of the Lord.  He grew to understand that everything is God's and he has no trouble giving generously and obediently to the work of the Lord in the churches we have been members of in our 35 years or to other ministries or missions that he feels the Lord leading him to support. If ever I came to him wanting to help someone financially who God was putting on my heart,  he always was ready to bless them.

 

Matt is generous with our home and our time.  He would help people move, help clean up floods at the church, be supportive when I had women over who were going through struggles and needed my time, be willing to give others a ride to church or pick up people from the airport. 

 

Recently I had my first ever surgery. It was for Achilles tendonitis caused by a bone spur in my heel.  It was much more than I anticipated and as I have always been very active, I found it frustrating to say the least!  I have been homebound and unable to walk or drive for 4 weeks already and am looking at another 4 weeks with no driving and going to rehab so that I can use the foot and walk again.  During this time, my husband without complaint has been a rock for me.  He has run up and down stairs doing our laundry, taken our dog, Charlie. for walks and to the vet, as well as helped with cooking and cleaning. He has done this while also working everyday and keeping up with things like mowing the yard and even grocery shopping, and did I mention without complaining! 

 

Our family has been so blessed to have as the head of this family such a loving, committed, and godly man.  He has shown us the love of God through his actions and life and blesses us richly every day. His actions speak louder than words.

 

My husband has exemplified to me and our family what the scripture says love is.

 

I Corinthians 13:4-7

 

Love suffers long and is kind, love does not envy, love does not parade itself, it is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked easily, thinks no evil, does not rejoice in iniquity buy rejoices in the truth, bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 





                        Acts 17:28 "For in Him we live and move and have our being"

            Philippians 3:8 " Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of things and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him not having my own righteousness...but that which is through Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings..."

    My life is in Christ and knowing Him as my Lord and Savior.  In him  I "live and move and have my being."  My life is not in my own attempt at righteousness, for without Christ in me I have no righteousness of my own.  My life is not about performing or putting on a mask to be acceptable to others or to God.  My life is not in the things I do or don't do. My life is not in titles I might be given, or the amount of money in my bank account. My life is not in my state of health and fitness. My life is not in the relationships I have.  My life is not in the home I have, the car I drive or any of the things I own.  My life is in Christ!  The Scripture says, "Christ in you, the hope of glory!"

Its so opposite of what the world says.  The world says our value or our life is in these tangible things.  The Bible says these things will all pass away, but one question will remain:  is my life in Christ?  Have I surrendered the driver's seat of my life to Him and submitted to His ways instead of conforming to the ways and comforts of the world?

As I have gone through various trials of life in my almost 60 years of life, and as I am currently even going through a bit of a trial after surgery that is pressing on my patience and frustration buttons, deep down I have an abiding peace.  Why?  Because of God's presence in my life I know that my life is secure in Christ and the grace He has extended to me. I do not have to fear the loss of anything because "indeed I count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ."  This is not mental gymnastics.  This is a real, living, vibrant relationship with Jesus.  One where he loves me, comforts me, guides me, teaches me,
equips me, walks with me, sits with me,  has compassion for me, disciplines me, cares for me, provides for me and much more!

A life in Christ is one where we can have peace because we have his presence for anything that may come against us in this life.  I think of Joni Eareckson Tada and how as a young girl she had a diving accident that left her without the use of her hands or legs and yet her life was in Christ and she has had an amazing life of inspiration and help those who suffer many kinds of losses.  If her loss of the use of her limbs were not enough, she also struggled through various other health issues including double pneumonia and breast cancer!  But her response?  She glorified Christ for the life she has in Him and all that He has done in and through her to bring many into the family of God!  She travels, paints, writes, sings and encourages and speaks and God has blessed her in many ways even in the midst of her "loss". 

Lord that I might learn to keep in focus where my life truly is.  My life abides in YOU.
Strengthen me when the storms of life come to trust in what you have spoken to me through Romans 8:38

"For  I am persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor powers nor anything present nor things to come, nor height nor depth nor any created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus."

He is my life.

One day as I was walking through the Chicago Botanic Gardens through the Japanese Gardens, I spotted 2 white swans and their little brood of new baby swans with soft gray feathers and as I walked close to where they were on the bank of the little lake, the mother quickly spread her wings out as if to cover and protect her new babies.  Those wings were expansive and powerful and I had no doubt had I tried to come close she would have covered her babies with those powerful wings or come after me!  Needless to say I kept my distance. Even these ducks in the pictures I took at the Gardens have that same instinct when they have babies.  How meaningful then are the verses we read about the Lord protecting us under the "shadow of his wings" just as a mother bird or fowl would!
Today I was reading in the Psalms and these two verses popped out at me:

        "I long to dwell in your tent forever and take refuge in the shelter of your wings" Psalm 61:4
         "Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings." Psalm 63:7

I was reminded of our Lord's loving protection of us and that we can take refuge under his "wings".
He has invited us to do so.  He knows that we will face many troublesome situations in this world
and He wants to make clear that we can depend upon him for his help and protection just as a baby bird or swan, or chick, or gosling can under it's mother's wing.  We are not meant to endure alone the battering of life's storms alone and unprotected. 

I love Psalm 63:7 ...."I sing in the shadow of your wings."  That speaks of peace and rest in the
troubles of life to the point where we can freely and joyfully sing!

None of us likes to go through trials, heartache, sickness, loss, or pain, but God's word is our comfort telling us that HE IS THERE, HIS WINGS SPREAD, READY TO HELP BLUNT THE STORMS OF LIFE THAT ASSAIL US and even give us relief to the point that we might, because of his nearness and strength, find our hearts able to praise him in the storm!

As I approach my 60th birthday this August, I can look back and see many trials and storms that God has brought me through.  I have dwelt under the shadow of His wings many times and found help and comfort and solace and provision and most of all, love and grace there.  In past years I have struggled with various physical issues such as a bladder disease, kidney stones, herniated discs in my neck, pneumonia twice, sciatica, a torn meniscus in my knee, and recently surgery in my right foot to deal with Achilles tendonitis and a bone spur.  I have also experienced loss...the loss of both my grandmothers and grandfathers, the loss of my mother when she was only 54, the loss of my mother-in-law,  I have also gone through other kinds of losses such as financial loss,  the loss of friendships and the loss of unfulfilled dreams and hopes.  But, through it all were and are and will be the wings of God, the everlasting arms sheltering me and helping me through!

We need to respond by being willing to receive his offer of sheltering wings over us. We need to surrender to his care over us  In Matthew 23:37 the Lord speaks to the Jewish nation saying he would have "gathered thy children together even as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you would not"!  They wouldn't surrender and run to the shelter of his wings!  We must guard our hearts that we would not refuse the nurture and protection and grace of the "wings" of God by being self sufficient and too proud to receive from our Father.  Isaiah 30:18 says he longs to be gracious to us.

Today, if you are hurting, if you are depressed or despairing, if you are overwhelmed by your life, if you have health issues that have changed your life to something you don't recognize,
will you run and find cover under His wings and find rest for your weary, burdened soul?  He stands ready, wings expanded and ready to sweep you under as you draw near so He can provide a respite, a refuge, restoration and renewal. 

A line from a favorite song of mine from long ago says, "Said the robin to the sparrow I would really like to know why these anxious human beings rush about and worry so. Said the sparrow to the robin, friend, I think that it must be that they have no heavenly father such as cares for you and me!"
The sparrow was wrong, we do have a gracious heavenly father with expansive wings, but we must choose to seek our shelter there rather than in things that will never satisfy.

Hebrews 13:5-6 Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you. The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid."

Psalm 89:15, 17 Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you, who walk in the light of your presence O Lord...for You are their glory and strength.

It's interesting to me how we often learn the most about God's character, His nearness, His love, His grace,
His power and provision when we are going through some "trial" of life and are unable to "fix it" our self!
I come from a "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" kind of childhood and spent many years unlearning that
mindset. Now, years later I continue to learn and embrace what a blessing it is to be in those rough times
when my world gets turned upside down or I am confronted with things I didn't expect and don't want in my life!  I've found that God tends to reveal himself to his children very clearly through the difficult, even painful times of life.  I believe it is because He knows what it is like to go through real pain, for as the scriptures tell us, Jesus was a "man of sorrows, acquainted with grief".  That is why He is so able to comfort us in our sorrow and be compassionate to us in our grief, to be our joy and strength and refuge in times of trouble.  He knows what it is to endure pain, hardship, ridicule, loss, loneliness, abandonment, rejection, temptation, testing and much more.  However, through it all, Jesus "acclaimed" (gave honor & glory to) God the Father and walked in the light of God's promises and presence and provision that He himself might be the first of many "sons" to know that God surely is his glory and strength for any situation.  

Father God, may I know today in all my circumstances your glory, power and love and be blessed that I
might also be a blessing to someone else who hurts or is in a painful place in their life. 
Jesus, you said, "In the world you WILL have tribulation, but be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world."  Wow, what an amazing declaration!  Yes, Jesus you overcame the system of this world by your life, death and resurrection, securing a place and our position as sons and daughters in the Kingdom of God for anyone who will humble themselves, repent of their sin, and believe in and trust that your death and resurrection truly is the door to a new life. You give us a new life where you are always there, never forsaking us and helping us find our way through the trials and tribulations we encounter on this side of heaven. I don't always understand why certain things, painful, hard things happen in this world, but I trust  your  love that was shown to me clearly by your sacrifice of your own life on the cross and your ultimate resurrection to make me and many others a son or daughter. That makes me want to continue to learn to acclaim you even through the trials of this life.  Truly, your grace is amazing.