Things That Are Biblical and Things That Are Dysfunctional

We had great discussion this morning in leadership council.  I love serving with these women.  I ran a couple of errands afterwards and now I am back home, ready to settle in.  I should probably be going to Bible study tonight but alas the call of home beckons louder than going in fighting traffic and that would just be in the parking lot.  I am not even thinking about the freeway. 

I cannot stop thinking about the book, Mrs. Astor Regrets.  In the big picture there seemed to have always been animosity between Mrs. Astor and her son. He was her only child from a marriage she despised and regretted.  She demeaned him publicly yet "bought" positions for him in the government.  The author thinks that everything that began the downward spiral consisted of several little things that gathered steam and started down a path that most regret to this day.  Mrs. Astor decided if her son died before she did, his third wife would not receive any inheritance, she became closer to one of her grandsons and his family and two nurses concerned for the health of Mrs. Astor confiding in this same grandson brought down the house of Astor or should that be hotel of Astor?  Insecurity and greed were the begats of these three incidents.  Fear caused the son to fire long time employees who were getting small, well small in the millionaires view, monetary rewards in her will, if they were still in her employ when she died and the son and wife took treasures out of his mother's penthouse and placed them in their own home.  They desired to be in the social whirl of things and with his mother's money and stuff, their dream was coming true...except for those two nurses who genuinely cared for Mrs. Astor.  I couldn't help but think about Isaac, Rebekah, Esau and Jacob as I finished up the book last night and then thought of the Astors in our discussion of Isaac and his crew.   In our discussion today, my eyes were opened to a biblical truth,

Genesis 25:34

The Voice (VOICE)

³⁴ Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and lentil stew. Esau ate and drank. When he was satisfied, Esau went his way as if nothing had happened. Esau treated his valuable birthright contemptuously.

Amplified

 ³⁴ Then Jacob gave Esau bread and stew of lentils, and he ate and drank and rose up and went his way. Thus Esau scorned his birthright as beneath his notice.

 

This is why I don't like to cook.  You work hard preparing everything, you sit down at the table, they eat and drink and go on their way.  My friend Eileen was sitting beside me yesterday and she leaned in and said, when people say the OT isn't relevant for today....they're wrong.  Another point of observation is the Esau life, especially directed at men, make a quick decisive decision, be the alpha male and I thought yeah, sometimes men's ministry is saying the same thing to men.  Roy and I were talking about that last night and he said he quit going to a men's study because they kept directing the men that they were the king of the castle and Roy struggled with that, because he couldn't resolve it biblically.  Don't get me wrong, Roy is the leader in our home and I love the way he prays and also asks me my thoughts on what he's been praying about and then we do what we feel the Lord is directing, together in submission to the Lord.  I love that Roy doesn't have to remind me all the time that he is the leader.  I don't get that either because your actions should define leadership not the fact you have to remind everyone by telling them.  

This is totally unrelated but kind of, maybe...there is a big movement in some parts of Christendom for biblical spanking of wives.  WHAT?????  In the Sam Hill?  I thought that only happened on I Love Lucy.   

I've returned back to Walking on Water....it's a book.  I am underlining and writing like crazy on almost every page.  I found a bunch of quotes that goes hand in hand with the book and I have written all of those on every available blank page.  I love a reading season when every book you read is gold.