I (Heart) My Wife

First of all, I apologize for not blogging in 3 weeks. I really enjoyed my family time this holiday and didn't spend much time on the computer...which is a great thing. Speaking of family, I just want to brag a bit about mine. As referenced before, I've gotten to spend some substantial chunks of time with mine recently. I love my wife and kids more and more every day.

I really appreciate the sacrifices my wife makes to keep our home and family operating smoothly. She's smarter than me and could do anything she wanted to do. Yet she chooses to be a stay-at-home mom and raise our children. It's a noble calling for her. She keeps the house up, does the bills, cooks the meals, shops for the household...and the list goes on...all while being pregnant with our third baby. I leave for the day and come in about 2 or 3 hours before our children go to bed. I really enjoy that time, but it's not the ENTIRE DAY with the girls like she has to spend. I know this blows many of your minds, but my children can be a handful. They are cute and sweet, but they also have this little sin nature problem that creates many opportunities for strife and selfishness.

She handles our kids with firmness and grace...true discipleship. I walk in and the kids rush to me for playtime....giving her a respite. But she's been with them for 8 or 9 hours before I come in. Not only is she a great mother, but she's also a trusted confidante and friend. I genuinely enjoy the time we get to spend together. Admittedly, time together...especially alone together...is a precious commodity these days. Anyways, I wanted to brag on Chrissy. I could say alot more, but time doesn't allow this morning.

Troublemakers.....

This past Sunday I continued in our Heroes series with a message on Elijah vs. The Prophets of Baal in I Kings 18. This is an awesome story! King Ahab and his vindictive wife Jezebel had been leading a Baal Revival (no that's not an agricultural movement of God....that would be a "bale revival"...furthermore, a "bail revival" involves prison ministry...setting the captives free...but I digress.) Jezebel had killed off most of God's Prophets in the land and reinstituted idol worship. Elijah declared a drought on the land as punishment for the nation turning its back on God. After 3 years of the drought, God tells Elijah to confront Ahab yet again.


Here's the conversation as they first meet up:

When he (Ahab) saw Elijah, he said to him, "Is that you, you troubler of Israel?"
"I have not made trouble for Israel," Elijah replied. "But you and your father's family have. You have abandoned the LORD's commands and have followed the Baals." - (I Kings 18:17-18)


Isn't it ironic that Ahab sees Elijah as the troublemaker?! To him, Elijah is the reason for the drought when, in reality, it is his own sin that brought punishment upon the land. All Elijah did was to speak up for God. Elijah told Ahab exactly what God told him to do. If that is what it means to be a troublemaker, then so be it. Often people want to shoot the messenger when the news is bad.


As Christians, God has called us to be His voice in this world. We must say what needs to be said...confronting the idolatry of our own culture....defending the defenseless....advocating morality...harboring the widowed, orphaned, and unborn. The world might see us as the problem, and not the glaring sins of our culture as the issue.


But I keep hearing God ask us, "If you don't speak up, if you refuse to say what needs to be said, if you sit idly by, who will speak the truth to this world?" We may be called troublemakers for speaking truth and living with conviction. It would be an honor to be included with that lot.