Bible Readings and Such

Memorized I Peter 3:7--Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered.

A great passage, because it commands me to be understanding--not demanding, not self-absorbed, not tough--but understanding. (The Greek word is GNOSIS.) For me, this means that God authorizes me to really go to school on how my wife thinks, feels, and acts. This is what a godly, competent husband should do.

Also memorized John 1:14--And the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

As Pastor John explained, this verse can be a valuable guide to my own development, since we are to emulate Christ. Life isn't just about truth (right/wrong, moral/immoral), but also about showing grace to everyone in my life--my wife, my kids, my pets, my coworkers, even...yikes...my former spouse. I feel that my failure to develop the grace part of my life torpedoed my relationship with my kids as they became teenagers. I need to work to repair whatever I can repair.

Also read I Corinthians 13, and I was struck with how easy it is to zero out all your accomplishments in God's eyes by not having love (AGAPE). Paul really demonstrates his love for the Corinthians by putting up with all their crap, and it's a great example to follow.

Other stuff: I've been working out hard this week. Yesterday Biggest Loser (Level 1) in the morning, and chest/abs/40 minute uphill climb in the afternoon. This morning back and 30 minutes of sprints on the treadmill. This afternoon I need to do shoulders and some form of aerobics, maybe jumping rope?

Peter came over last night, and we played CC:E, the battle of Hitdorf. Very fun scenario that we really enjoyed way back when. When we first played it months ago, Peter had the Americans and made the mistake of seizing the building on top of the hill in the early game, only to get trounced by my counterattacking Germans. This time I had the Americans, and I made two good tactical moves in the game. First, in the opening, he had a weapons team on the hill, and I sent a platoon after it and destroyed it. Then, instead of taking the building, I reversed course and attacked across the middle, eventually overruning his forces and killing enough of his leaders that he gave it up. Admittedly, I had all the good cards throughout the fight.

Then we played Napoleon for the second time. Peter loves the game but is not experienced enough with it yet, so I clobbered his Allies with an unrelenting French advance on Brussels.

Our sun room is beautiful! I love the furniture and the moss-green walls. The fountain looks great, but it's a little loud.