Inside Out Living

Today I spent my lunch at the local High School here on the Long Beach Peninsula. For those of you who haven't heard we unfortunately had a student commit suicide earlier this week. He was well liked and active in the student body so there are many who are struggling to deal with this news.

For me (not that it is all about me, but hey it is my blog) it was a strange experience on Monday and then today again stepping foot onto that campus hardly knowing a soul. Today was awkward at moments and I heard a few whispers behind my back after having talked to some students but hey little ventured, little gained. It just always amazes me at the teen subculture that goes on in the schools. I know that I went through that but it was just so long ago that witnessing it now is like studying a new culture as an anthropologist.

Anyway, just thought I might share a little from my experience of going back to school today and to ask all of you who read this blog to be in prayer for the family and for our community. The memorial service is on Sunday and there is a suicide prevention assembly at the high school the following day that I will take part in as well. God is good and the silver lining is that there are many ministry opportunities opening up out of the this tragedy.

After that slightly depressing post yesterday about the sad state of marriage in America, I had to post this moving devotional from Dennis and Barbara Rainey of Family Life Together. You can subscribe to these devotionals at crosswalk.com. You can also learn more about Dennis and Barbara's ministry at www.familylife.com.

Accepting Your Mate Unconditionally
1 John 4:18
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear.


Why is unconditional acceptance so important? Because if you accept only in part, you can love only in part. And if you love in part, your mate's self-esteem will never be complete.
Remember, "Perfect love casts out fear." A powerful picture of how love casts out fear is found in the book Welcome Home, Davey. While serving aboard a gunboat in Vietnam, Dave Roever was holding a phosphorus grenade some six inches from his face when a sniper's bullet ignited the explosive. Here he describes the first time he saw his face after the explosion:

When I looked in that mirror, I saw a monster, not a human being... My soul seemed to shrivel up and collapse in on itself, to be sucked into a black hole of despair. I was left with an indescribable and terrifying emptiness. I was alone in the way the souls in hell must feel alone.

Finally he came back to the States to meet with his young bride, Brenda. Just before she arrived, he watched a wife tell another burn victim that she wanted a divorce. Then Brenda walked in.

Showing not the slightest tremor of horror or shock, she bent down and kissed me on what was left of my face. Then she looked me in my good eye, smiled, and said, "Welcome home, Davey! I love you." To understand what that meant to me you have to know that's what she called me when we were most intimate; she would whisper "Davey," over and over in my ear.... By using her term of endearment for me, she said, You are my husband. You will always be my husband. You are still my man.

That's what marriage is all about. Marriage is another person being committed enough to you to accept the real you. It means two people working together to heal their deepest wounds.

Check out this post on TonyMorganLive.com. It is sad statement about marriage in America, but much of it is true for many of the marriages. Hopefully we can reclaim commitment and genuine love in marriages.

http://tonymorganlive.com/2009/02/09/the-way-weddings-would-be-if-people-were-honest/

I absolutely loved this video. You will bust up laughing. It also turns out that I know the lady in the video. Dona Johnson the secretary at my last church admitted that it was her putting the remote in the microwave.