2002-05-25 - Love and Marriage

I would like to share some things I have read from a little book I have been reading, that Rick gave me, written by LLoyd pulley, called "Walk in Love."  Lloyd is the Pastor of Calvary Chapel in Old Bridge, New Jersey.

There is a little story in Chapter Three that reads:

Writes a surgeon: "I stand by the bed where a young woman lies, her face postoperative, her mouth twisted in palsy, clownish. A tiny twig of the facial nerve, the one to the muscles of her mouth, have been severed. She will be thus from now on. The surgeon has followed with religious fervor the curve of her flesh; I promise you that. Nevertheless, to remove the tumor in her cheek, I had to cut the little nerve.

"Her young husband is in the room. He stands at the opposite side of the bed, and together they seem to dwell in the private lamplight, isolated from me, private. Who are they, I ask myself, he and this wry-mouth I have made, who gaze at and touch each other so generously, greedily? The young woman speaks. 'Will my mouth always be like this?' she asks. 'Yes,' I say, 'it will. It is because the nerve was cut.' She nods and is silent. But the young man smiles. 'I like it,' he says. 'It is kind of cute.' All at once, I know who he is. I understand, I lower my gaze. Unmindfulm he bends to kiss her crooked mouth, and I, so close, can see how he twists his own lips to accommodate to hers, to show her that their kiss still works." Dr. Richard Seltzer

The author goes on to share what Marjorie Holmes had to say about love versus romance:

Romance is seeking perfection.
Love is forgiving.

Romance is eager, striving always to appear attractive to each other.
Love is two people who find beauty in each other, no matter how they look.

Romance is dancing in the moonlight, gazing deep into desired eyes across a candlelit table.
Love is saying, "Your tired honey, I'll get up this time." And stumbling through the darkness to warm a bottle, to comfort a frightened child.

Romance is the anguish of waiting for the phone to ring, to bring you a voice that will utter endearments.
Love is the anguish of waiting for a call that will assure you someone else is safe.

Romance is flying.
Love is safe landing.

Romance is flattering attentions.
Love is genuine thoughtfulness.

Romance is tingling excitement.
Love is tenderness, constancy, being cherished.

Romance is suspense, anticipation, and surprise.
Love is dependability.

Romance is delicious.
Love nourishes.

Romance is fleeting.
Love is long.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 Love suffers long and is kind. Love does not envy. Love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

The author goes on to say that love is a byproduct of walking in the Spirit.

I enjoyed reading the book, because it continued to point you to the Word of God and to guide you based on what the Word says with regard to marriage.

I will close with a quote by Billy Graham: "The home only fulfills its true purpose when it is God-controlled. Leave Jesus Christ out of your home and it loses its meaning. But take Christ into your heart and the life of your family, and He will transform your home."

In His Service,
Rick & Sandy

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