HAPPILY EVER AFTER

George & Rita - Many years of happy marriage

Michaelangelo used the friction between his chisel and the rock to chip away—piece by piece—at stone and marble. Michelangelo didn’t sculpt like other sculptors. No, he didn’t believe he was creating something from nothing. Instead, he believed his slow, deliberate chiseling actually liberated what was already inside of the stone. He saw beautiful figures beneath the surface and considered it his responsibility as an artist to simply set them free.

Two years of chiseling later, Michelangelo had set David free—and in the process, he sculpted this unlovely piece of rock into one of history’s most renowned pieces of art.

Tyler Ward, author of  "Marriage Rebranded: Modern Misconceptions and the Unatural Art of Loving Another Person", goes on to say:

I think there’s more truth about marriage in this story than in most of our modern ideas about relationships. Marriage isn’t, in fact, our gateway to happily ever after. It’s more like a chisel in Divine hands. And though there’s plenty of friction involved, it’s designed to chip away at all the dysfunction in our lives and free the beautiful statues inside.

Interestingly, the Bible seems to agree with this picture that Michelangelo’s carving philosophy offers us. In fact, if you’re ever wondering who you can blame for this chiseling sensation in your marriage, Adam—the first human in the Bible—is your guy.

It all started when the first human on earth decided to name his wife after a hazardous chemical reaction. After having just been introduced to the only other human being on earth, he says, “She shall be called ishshah—woman, because she was taken out of ish—man.”

Ish and ishshah. I assume that though they have a certain ring to them, these won’t be topping your list of names for future kids. Even so, they paint a picture about marriage that answers many of our modern questions.
To start, both words are derived from the root word and Hebrew character esh, which means fire.
This means that the original word picture we have for the relationship between a man and a woman is an all-consuming, tireless-in-nature, potentially hazard-creating fire. And though this picture lends itself to the modern concept of heated romance or passionate love, the Bible consistently points to a different purpose of fire.

Fire happens to be one of the Bible’s primary metaphors for purification and personal development.

 It would seem that the relationship between two spouses—fire—as depicted by biblical accounts, is a source of personal refinement, designed to play a significant role in one’s process of growth and maturity. But hang with me—the biblical picture gets better.
In the New Testament, Paul the apostle goes on to compare love in marriage to the love Jesus showed humanity. He says:

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her [literally, purify her internally by the reformation of her soul], having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, . . . having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.

 Tyler Ward's helpful extract from his book will be continued in a week's time. 

Suthanisee and Sadudee

Suthanisee slips a ring on her beloved.

Recently we attended a lovely wedding at Rayong in the Gulf of Thailand. We have known this young couple for many years. Sadudee asked my husband to bring a message at the ceremony and also to play the violin. I had the privilege of singing to them.

Sadudee's father, Somchai Soonthornturasuk, is a well known evangelist and he married them. It was a joy filled time.

A storm threatened with the wind lifting but many prayed it would pass over. The clouds rolled over and the breeze cooled us after the high humidity. At one point the guests heard a distant humming and looked up to see a drone hovering above and capturing the whole ceremony from the air. Sadudee's photographer friends also captured thousands of pictures.

Sadudee met Suthanisee in the workplace. She is a food buyer for many restaurants and he is a freelance photographer. She also creates delicious recipes and he photographs them. He sets the lighting just right so the dish looks so tempting it makes the mouth water.

She was able to buy the great variety of seafood at cost price to make the wedding breakfast memorable! The barbecued seafood tasted absolutely delicious.

In the ceremony, my husband shared the fact that a successful marriage doesn't just happen, it needs to be worked at in times of fun, sharing chores, and patience, especially when hard times come as invariably happens. This is where praying together can draw a couple closer as they share the problems equally.

Whither Thou Goest I Will Go

Ruth could do nothing but trust the Lord

A beautiful story of a young woman thousands
of years ago.

The story of Ruth from Moab is quite an amazing slice of history. Mainly because Ruth is mentioned in the genealogy of the Lord Jesus Christ. What an honour!

Married to the son of a couple of Israelites who left their country because the land had fallen on hard times, she soon faced the trauma of losing her young husband. As a young widow what should she do?

Her sister had married her husband's brother who had also died.  A double tragedy. No help from a generous government in those days! Go back to work and look for another husband seemed the only way out. Their mother-in-law, also widowed and determined to return to her own country, decided to return alone. But Ruth took a step of faith. She'd heard all about the God of Israel and His kindness to His people, even though they had often strayed from Him. She decided to follow her mother-in-law. An embittered Naomi did not give her any encouragement. She even told her to go back to her old gods, but Ruth would not be shrugged off. She clung desperately to the older woman, saying:

"Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go, and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God."

To condense this lovely story, after Ruth returned with Naomi, the Lord took a hand in their destitute situation. A wealthy man named Boaz was attracted to this stranger in town, and with the help of Naomi's match-making, he committed himself to Ruth in marriage.

Why don't you read this inspiring story in the eighth book of the Bible. It shows how the Lord had a special interest in a young woman - a former heathen - who discovered faith in Him. It also shows us that the Lord cares for every facet of our lives.

GAINING CONFIDENCE

Author Gail Gaymer Martin shares:

“I’d never thought of myself as a strong woman until I faced the unthinkable—divorce. As a Christian woman, divorce is an action no one wants to face, especially when you know what the Bible says and that it is scorned by many faiths.

My former husband’s unfaithfulness was the cause of our divorce. We tried for two years to keep the marriage together, but it failed, and I received divorce papers from my husband. My world collapsed. I had never run a house alone. I’d never worried about car repairs or dealing with house repairs that a home owner must handle. I lay alone at night, tears rolling down my face while asking the Lord to give me a sign that I would survive, that life would get better, that my world hadn’t crumbled.

I didn’t receive a sign,but I received an answer. Life moved on. I resolved repairs in my home by getting estimates, hiring people to do repairs and to rebuild the porch. I learned how to do some small repairs myself. I dealt with car repairs by asking men from work what did it mean when my car went thump, bang, bump. They smiled, took my keys, started my car, and told me what they thought. I went to the repair shop saying. “I think my belt is slipping.” I had no idea if it was, but the repairman thought I knew something about cars and I never got duped into replacing something not needed.

I not only survived,I gained confidence, grew stronger and realized that was the sign I’d needed all along. I could do anything with confidence, planning and forethought. And besides that, the Lord led me on a stranger journey to a divorced singles church event where I met the sweetest man who valued his children, family and faith as much as I did.  We celebrated our twenty-eighth wedding anniversary last year.

Thanks for sharing, Gail. I'm sure your experience will encourage many women.

Follow me on Twitter @RitaSGalieh

HOPE FOR the NEW YEAR

Why is this blog named Inspirational Romance?

As an author, I write stories to give hope. Yes, I always add romance as the plot is usually about someone's dreams being fulfilled. Maybe not as they'd visualized but with a wonderful end result. And I always allow my main characters to grow emotionally and spiritually.

There's no doubt hope is what keeps us going...moving forward and never giving up. God has given us that ability. Even so it is still a choice we have to make even when things seem impossible.

Thousands of years ago when God allowed the Jews to be be captured by the King Nebuchadnezzar, the ruler of the Babylonian kingdom, He gave them hope for their future. Yes, they'd sinned against His Word, by listening to evil prophets and diviners, consequently being caught up with horrible practices. Yet even after they'd been carried off to a far land he granted them hope. Hope that if they repented of their wrongdoing, He would again bring them back into their own land. In fact He said an amazing thing to them through the prophet Jeremiah. We read:

"I will fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you," declares the lord, "plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."

We may face some limiting circumstances today. We may have lost a dear one, or are facing financial difficulties, or a debilitating illness. Now is the time to seek the Lord with all your heart. Find your hope in Him for the coming year.

My friend, read John's Gospel and you will find hope in Jesus - the Way, the Truth, and the Life. May God bless you.
Rita Stella

OUR CHRISTMAS LAMB

I heard a true story recently.

A young man shared how he worked on a farm in Paraguay. The farm had various crops and a few sheep. Now the ewes had just lambed and the farmer picked one and gave it into the young man's care. The farmer said as long as he fed and petted it, the lamb would follow him everywhere.

The farmer named it Navidad which is Spanish for the word Christmas. Sure enough that little lamb followed the young man everywhere and he grew very fond of it. He thought it must have been a special pet that the busy farmer had no time to look after. He formed a real bond with Navidad - similar to a man and his dog.

Time passed and as the end of the year approached, the young man had a disturbing thought. Had there been any particular reason why the lamb was named Christmas? Then the sad truth sank in. It all made sense now. Navidad was to be offered as their Christmas dinner. His little lamb to be killed just so they food to eat? He was truly saddened. Because the farm was poor, Navidad the little Christmas lamb must die ... so that they might live.

For the first time in his life he understood something of how God felt when His Son died on the cross taking on Himself the penalty of our sins. Jesus truly died that we might live. How deeply it cut the Father's heart to offer His own Son Jesus.

Mercifully the little lamb didn't know what would happen as it went quietly to be slaughtered ... but Jesus did and His suffering was great. Earlier in His ministry, John the Baptist saw Jesus coming and cried out, 'Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.' His amazing sacrifice was foretold by the prophet Isaiah in the Holy Bible. ( Isa.53:5-7.)

This is the reason why Jesus was born in that manger so long ago.

I wish you, my reader, a very happy and blessed Christmas!

OUR PEACE CHILD

How could one small baby bring peace between men out to harm each other?

That's what Canadian missionary Don Richardson asked himself. He and his college sweetheart Carol had married and then felt the call of God to share the good news with the Sawi tribes-people of Irian Jaya.

After many months working among these volatile warring tribes, one day he threatened them as they began fighting outside his house.

He cried out loudly that he'd go and work among other villagers if they didn't quit their feuding and make peace.  Suddenly one man ran off and took his baby son from his wife. She screamed and wrenched it away from him. Then another man from the opposition hurried to his house and took up his baby son. His wife shrieked and wailed but couldn't stop him when he handed over their baby to a man who he had been fighting. As the man accepted the child others laid hands on it amidst women's cries.

Deeply shattered by this show of great emotion Don asked what was happening. "This is the only way to make peace between us," he was told. "As long as the Peace Child lives we are safe." Don had the answer. He told them how God the Father had sent His only Son as a Peace Child between men. Wicked men killed Jesus, but He rose from the dead because He was God's Son and He lives forever. So they had no need to do this anymore once they believed in Him because the sacrifice of His Peace Child lasts as long as Jesus lives. And He will never die again.

And this Christmas we can thank our Father for sending His Son to give us His peace in our hearts. May you all know the blessing of His lasting peace. Remember there is nothing we can add to His perfect sacrifice, but to accept it and honor Him with our right living.

A VERY BLESSED CHRISTMAS to YOU

Follow me on Twitter @RitaSGalieh