January 17

Don’t Try to Fix Her

Work at getting along with each other and with God. Otherwise you’ll never get so much as a glimpse of God. Make sure no one gets left out of God’s generosity. Keep a sharp eye out for weeds of bitter discontent. A thistle or two gone to seed can ruin a whole garden in no time.

Hebrews 12:14-15 (The Message)


You husbands likewise, live with your wives in an understanding way….

1 Peter 3:7a (NAS)


The warm shower mist hit me as I glanced down. Ugh! There it was again. A clot of long brown hair covering the drain. I kicked at it with my wet toe then pinched it with my soapy fingers and deposited it where it belonged—on the shower shelf in front of my wife’s shampoo bottle.

Can’t she take care of this? Well, now she’ll have to deal with it!

Later, as I reflected on the episode, I wondered why it offended me and why I needed her to fix it. Here’s what I realized:

One—I had a girlfriend a long time ago, a wonderful girl, who shared this pet peeve—hair left in the shower drain. So now, I had assumed someone else’s critical mindset.

Two—While I am a laid back phlegmatic at heart, I am, at times, a very peculiar melancholy—a perfectionist with little, unimportant details like arranging the salt and pepper shakers just so on the dining room table.

Three—instead of empathizing with my wife and living with her in an understanding way, for some reason, I think I need to make her more like me. But I'm convinced that’s not what God wants. He expects more of me.

Then this morning, I noticed my wife had failed to move the hairball. It was still resting on the shower shelf in front of the shampoo. So, this time, I did the manly thing. I picked it up and threw it away. You see, I was a changed man with a new understanding.

And then it hit me. There was something else I failed to realize. Something I completely missed. My wife … takes her shower ... without her glasses!


Father, thank You for my wife. Thank You for making her different, and thank You, that like You, she is so patient with me. Help me to grow in love… and patience too. Amen.

January 16

Bearing His Name

Your words made me very happy, because I am called by your name, LORD God All-Powerful.

Jeremiah 15:16a (NCV)


The LORD won’t leave his people nor give up his children..

Psalm 94:14 (NCV)


But there is more to life for us. We’re citizens of high heaven!

Philippians 3:20a (the Message)


“Oh, those people!” I overheard. They were talking about Christians. Then I read an article quoting someone as saying Christian teaching was polluting children’s minds. God help us.

God help us to respond in love, to be true to our name. Christian. Like Christ. Christ-follower.

Let’s celebrate! To be called by His name, to be identified with Him is … awesome! But let’s not be surprised. Jesus told us these things would happen.

“If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first.” Jesus said in John 15:18 (NCV). Then he went on, “But I have chosen you out of the world so you don’t belong to it. That is why the world hates you. I will send you the helper … the Spirit of truth … and you also must tell people about me … I have told you these things to keep you from giving up.”

Christian! Remember who you are. Remember Him who calls you by name and … don’t give up!


LORD, give us strength and peace to bear Your name well. Amen.

January 15

Ryan’s Tennis Game

I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.

Philippians 4:13 (NAS)


My wife and I sat huddled in our car sipping Orange Dream Machine Jamba juices. A sea of green tennis courts filled our front window as the wind buffeted our vehicle. What started as a warm Oregon spring day had been overcome by gray clouds.

The quiet bang of tennis serves and returns cut through everything—the gusts, the cold, even our windows. And we were in awe.

Our 16-year old son was playing on the other side of the fence, just a few feet away. Let me repeat that, Ryan was playing tennis and he was holding his own. We were awed because Ryan has only four fingers on each hand, and he doesn’t have knuckles—at least not where you and I do. But there he was, holding the racquet in two hands, smacking his serve over the net, banging the ball back to the other side, battling the wind and his opponents. It was a close game and we watched in rapt fascination.

You see, over a month ago, he approached us in our living room and said he wanted to go out for tennis. We sat in soft chairs by the big windows and quietly rolled our eyes. Our minds were projecting the likely outcome and my wife’s eyes welled up. “Oh, honey….”

But Ryan was a determined young man who believed in himself and his God. So that day, proud as I could be, I sat in the car as my son taught me a lesson: God wants to do so much more with me if I will open my heart, my mind, my will.


Father, thank You for Ryan and for Your quiet lessons on faith. Strengthen me, Lord, as You have strengthened him. Amen.