A MAN OF HONOR, WHO CAN FIND ONE?

If it were not

for my personal experience I would say that the proverbial "honorable man" was extinct. But God, who continually blows my mind, has given to me an honorable man.

Before we got married the Lord impressed upon me that Chuck was my Boaz. I asked the Lord to make my mother and I like Ruth and Naomi. My mother and I have been like two peas in a pod most of my adult life. I became a widow with two small children at the age of 21 and moved in to live with my Mom and Dad. My boys and I stayed! We all got along so well that we were happy to live together for almost 20 years. When my oldest son was killed in a car accident just two weeks after his 16th birthday and my Father died two years later in 1994, my Mom and I became even closer. I had never concerned myself with dating or "seeking" any relationship for myself because I had felt the Lord giving me direction to concentrate on raising my two boys. I am so very thankful for that direction, and cherish the time I had to spend with them. I wouldn't trade it for the world. When my youngest son was grown the Lord miraculously brought Chuck into my life. We began our relationship as friends and it grew into a bond that will last a lifetime.

Now, back to being Boaz. When I think of Boaz I think of a strong, sturdy man, physically, mentally, and spiritually. Boaz invokes the ideal of integrity, not only to understand what is right but choosing to do right whether others follow or not. Boaz had moral strength which came by continually choosing to do the honorable thing. All of these things are why Chuck is my Boaz. I have gotten to know him in the past 10 years and have seen him conduct himself honorably just as Boaz did. As I have said before in my blog, my mother is now very sick and becoming weaker everyday from ovarian cancer. We had brought her to our house a year and a half ago after she broke her hip and began chemo treatments. Chuck is a wonderful son-in-law to her. He couldn't be more caring and loving. Last night as we sat and prayed with her I was moved to tears, (again) as I watched him take her hand and hold it in his and look into her eyes. She would have held his hand all night. His spirit is comforting and compassionate. I saw him lift her with his own arms to make her comfortable in her bed when she couldn't move by herself. What a treasure I have been given. Jesus, I just want to thank you for my Boaz.

LAYING DOWN OUR LIFE

Since my mother has been sick, and with the addition of Jericho to our family, I have found a greater meaning to the phrase crucifying the flesh. Like so many concepts in the scripture there are different ways to understand or live out the meaning. Sin for example is not just don't do this or don't do that but it is also something you neglect to do that you should have done. I am finding that God is teaching me to crucify my flesh in a whole new way. Not in denying it the pleasure of a candy bar (that is not a bad thing to deny it I might add) or spending time in fasting and prayer (two essential spiritual foods) but actually doing for others when I would rather do for myself. Realizing that meeting the needs of others is real servitude in the kingdom of God. It is time as a Christian that I walk the talk when it comes to those in need, especially those of my own household. God forbid that my Christianity be in vain and that I would become an offense to the Gospel. What we need in America is Christians actually following Christ’s example of servant hood and laying down our lives for our brothers.