So my husband brings home this little paper called Journey to Wellness, take the test of your lifetime. He had been at a 4H pool party with Michael and these papers were passed out there.
It has you start with the number 76, and then you add or subtract from that number based on a page and a half of questions. One question is: If you live in an urban area with a population over 2 million, subtract 2. There are other questions regarding health habits of yourself and family members. Karl bombed on this one because 2 grandfathers died before he was even born. All of my grandparents lived until at least 60 years old. The test also includes driving habits, taking into account whether or not you are likely to die in a car crash.
So, we get to the bottom of the test, and Karl said this thing estimated he would live to be 80 years old and I would live to be 95. All I could say was a sarcastic "Thanks!"
That's 15 years! There is a difference of 15 years between our life expectancies (granted no one but God knows the true number of our days, but this at least gets you thinking). We've been married for 15 years. There have been times of joy and times of sorrow. Frustrations and Elations. Not many people pull their firstborn child out themselves while their husband is driving 70 miles per hour to the hospital. So there are definitely experiences in our marriage these 15 years that I would greatly miss if we had never gotten married. So, I'm thinking how many experiences we would miss in 15 years difference of life expectancies?
Our choices: I can make my health worse (not going to happen on purpose), Karl can improve his health chances (a lot of effort on his part, but doable) or we can just accept the fact that I will outlive him by 15 years.
Repeatedly, the scriptures pound the message of health. God desires us to prosper and be in good health. 80 years of age is nothing to sneeze at, by any means, but I believe God's plan for us is to be as healthy as possible. So, pray for Karl and I as we try to climb the Mt. Everests of his health (his job literally is very hard on his health) that seem impossible. We must remember that with God, all things are possible, even good health!
Friday, August 25, 2006
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
How do you say I'm sorry?
Interesting phone call. My 12 year old niece (whose gorgeous development has all of us {especially her mother} on our guard lately), called recently to ask advice on boys. Whoa. Well, at least it was for a friend of hers. It seems that her friend likes a certain boy and my niece thinks the boy likes her friend. The problem is they are both terribly shy. So my niece is left with the difficult task of helping these two "tweens" break the ice and talk to each other.
After speaking with my husband, as she wanted a guy's point of view, she then talked to me on the phone and said she was so confused. I told her that she was now right on target and welcome to womanhood! She went on to say that she would never understand men, and again, I welcomed her into the club.
However, it reminded me of another recent incident. I screwed up and made a big mess of a situation and it was totally senseless because I overreacted. So, I sucked it up and apologized and asked for forgiveness. That's when it hit me. The person I apologized to and asked forgiveness of....I couldn't remember the last time they ever apologized to me for anything or even hinted at asking for forgiveness, even though this person manages to cause me hurt and pain. I suddenly realized that I'm the one always apologizing (don't worry, it's not my husband), and even though this other person can be hateful and hurtful at times, they never apologize.
It got me to thinking that teaching our children to say "I'm sorry, I messed up, please forgive me," may be the best thing we ever do for their future relationships. I certainly wouldn't want my child going through life causing pain and suffering and not being able to own up to it and receive the healing of forgiveness and a change of behavior.
I also began to wonder, if we can never say "please forgive me" or "I'm sorry" to people we have relationships with, whether as close as immediate family or the other end of the spectrum, then how can we approach God? Does our inability to communicate on the "horizontal level" with our fellow mankind mean that we also don't have what it takes to communicate on the "vertical level" with our Lord and Maker?
And it's not just the words, I'm sorry. What about "good job, way to go, thanks for all your hard work, I appreciate all you've done." If you find yourself having a hard time communicating with someone, you may be having difficulty communicating with God as well, and it might just be time to stop and learn how to say "I'm sorry."
After speaking with my husband, as she wanted a guy's point of view, she then talked to me on the phone and said she was so confused. I told her that she was now right on target and welcome to womanhood! She went on to say that she would never understand men, and again, I welcomed her into the club.
However, it reminded me of another recent incident. I screwed up and made a big mess of a situation and it was totally senseless because I overreacted. So, I sucked it up and apologized and asked for forgiveness. That's when it hit me. The person I apologized to and asked forgiveness of....I couldn't remember the last time they ever apologized to me for anything or even hinted at asking for forgiveness, even though this person manages to cause me hurt and pain. I suddenly realized that I'm the one always apologizing (don't worry, it's not my husband), and even though this other person can be hateful and hurtful at times, they never apologize.
It got me to thinking that teaching our children to say "I'm sorry, I messed up, please forgive me," may be the best thing we ever do for their future relationships. I certainly wouldn't want my child going through life causing pain and suffering and not being able to own up to it and receive the healing of forgiveness and a change of behavior.
I also began to wonder, if we can never say "please forgive me" or "I'm sorry" to people we have relationships with, whether as close as immediate family or the other end of the spectrum, then how can we approach God? Does our inability to communicate on the "horizontal level" with our fellow mankind mean that we also don't have what it takes to communicate on the "vertical level" with our Lord and Maker?
And it's not just the words, I'm sorry. What about "good job, way to go, thanks for all your hard work, I appreciate all you've done." If you find yourself having a hard time communicating with someone, you may be having difficulty communicating with God as well, and it might just be time to stop and learn how to say "I'm sorry."
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Music and Water
I'm ashamed that it's been so long since my last posting. Alas, the "busy" of life has overwhelmed me as of late.
The boys have their first music recital this weekend. Michael is playing his solo piece on the piano, as well as the duet with his teacher of "Coming Round the Mountain" with another student playing the banjo. It's a great piece. Matthew is playing his solo on the piano as well as his "original composition" of a piece in a minor key about Jesus dying on the cross. Of course, it is only about 3 measures long, but he's only 4 years old, so his teacher wants to give him credit for those 3 measures!
Family is coming from out of state for the recital, and the baptism. Michael, some weeks back, went to the pastor and said, "may I please speak with you at length in the library." The pastor told us later that it was like talking to a small adult. Oh well, that's Michael and we love it! He requested baptism, and then the pastor found out what we had been doing in homeschool, and realized that Michael was pretty much ready for baptism. Since that time, we have reminded Michael over and over that it's not about how many correct answers you get or how good you are, but it's about committing your life to Jesus because you love Him.
So, we are very busy this weekend, and leading up to this weekend. I've made invitations for the recital and am completing the programs for that night. We are a little overwhelmed with all that needs to be done, but praising the Lord for His blessings!
The boys have their first music recital this weekend. Michael is playing his solo piece on the piano, as well as the duet with his teacher of "Coming Round the Mountain" with another student playing the banjo. It's a great piece. Matthew is playing his solo on the piano as well as his "original composition" of a piece in a minor key about Jesus dying on the cross. Of course, it is only about 3 measures long, but he's only 4 years old, so his teacher wants to give him credit for those 3 measures!
Family is coming from out of state for the recital, and the baptism. Michael, some weeks back, went to the pastor and said, "may I please speak with you at length in the library." The pastor told us later that it was like talking to a small adult. Oh well, that's Michael and we love it! He requested baptism, and then the pastor found out what we had been doing in homeschool, and realized that Michael was pretty much ready for baptism. Since that time, we have reminded Michael over and over that it's not about how many correct answers you get or how good you are, but it's about committing your life to Jesus because you love Him.
So, we are very busy this weekend, and leading up to this weekend. I've made invitations for the recital and am completing the programs for that night. We are a little overwhelmed with all that needs to be done, but praising the Lord for His blessings!
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