Honoring My Husband :)

I meant to do this before we went away to the mountains for the weekend, but I don't want to pass up the opportunity to honor my husband, Paul. I am overwhelmed with thankfulness to the Lord for the gift Paul is to me. There are many things I could say, but I will try to be concise.

1. One of the biggest areas Paul has served me in is dealing with my sin. There seem to be ceaseless ways in which I sin against Paul and as I go to him repeatedly, often with the same sins, he is eager to forgive. Paul is truly aware of the grace and forgiveness he has received through Jesus Christ and loves to extend that forgiveness to me! The Lord has used Paul to give me a tangible understanding of how God deals with the Christian's sin. Continually, we go to our heavenly Father, knowing we have sinned against him, and continually and eagerly He forgives us because of what Jesus Christ has done on the cross! God doesn't condemn us for our sin because He has already condemned Christ in our place. Paul excels in demonstrating Christ's never-ceasing forgiveness. For this, I am so thankful. I know the Lord more intimately in this way because of Paul's example.

2. Paul follows the Lord and submits his desires to Him. A little over a year ago, Paul felt the Lord calling him to come to Romania. His desire was to submit this to the Lord. One of the ways he did this was to seek the counsel of our pastors in our local church. He used their discernment and wisdom to evaulate if coming was the Lord's will. He was very humble in this entire process, submitting this desire to those who provide oversight for our souls (Hebrews 13:17). We are so thankful for our pastors!

3. Paul is a man who desires to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to people who are dead in their sins, rather than have the comforts of this temporal world. This statement is not intended to minimize the need for gospel-centered local churches to exist all over the USA, nor to imply that going overseas is any more noble or for everyone. I am simply saying that I am thankful for the desires God has given Paul to proclaim the gospel to the nations. And, I am thankful the Lord has called me to follow Paul wherever he leads. Paul is a man who is intentional about losing his life for the sake of the gospel. In John 12:25-26, Jesus says, "Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyones serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him."

4. An area that Paul has been growing in immensely is a desire to serve his wife. We are so selfish by nature that it is only the Lord who has given Paul a desire to serve others and to consider others more important than himself. Paul desires to grow in the biblical command to husbands found in Ephesians 5:25, 28-29, "Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her...in the same way, husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church..." Consistently serving others does not come naturally or overnight. God is at work in my husband and I love being able to watch how the Lord, by His grace is consistenly changing my husband to be more like Christ!

Paul, I love you!

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