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Unmerciful Servants: in Marriage and Life
By Mary Abrahamson Peter asked Jesus, “How many times do I have to forgive my brother?” Remember Jesus’ reply? Jesus answered with what is often called The Parable of the Unforgiving Servant, which we can read in Matthew 18:21-35. A servant owed his master a great debt. In the parable, these represent God (master), and us (servant), and the debt of sin under which we live and which separates us from God (the debt). The master forgave the great debt. God, of course, forgives us our very great debt of sin, every one of our sins, and even the innate sin of our natures. For Jesus’ sake. Continuing on in the parable,…
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Prayer
By Mary Abrahamson Today at work I was unexpectedly asked to join two of my coworkers in praying with them. A man who just started working at our facility a week ago has a son who experienced a medical emergency last week, and his condition is ongoing. So this man, a brand new employee, understandably has his mind and even sometimes his whole self, elsewhere than his new job. What a situation! Imagine the combined worry of your son’s health and the tenuous nature of a new job! Because my coworkers are both Christian people, they wanted to pray together for this man and his son. And because they knew…
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Good Friends For The Day
By Debra-Lynn Swearingen Words between sobs are difficult to understand. Substitute teaching for elementary children gives me practice. On a regular basis, a little girl comes to me crying over the way her friend is treating her. In order to mediate I point to an overall desire for kindness and inclusion. And like most teachers dealing with childhood drama, I attempt to force reconciliation so the class can move forward. Sometimes it’s successful, sometimes not. Either way, I remain convinced that growing up female is fraught with friendship woe. You don’t have to look far beyond the school playground to find that women hold an idealized view of friendship. In fact, we…
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On Getting Along
By Holly Scheer I don’t like being disagreeable. Conflict makes me nervous. The idea of upsetting the people near and dear to me is, well, upsetting. There’s peace and then there’s false peace. Do you have friends or family that you get along with, but only because you’re silent on things that matter, like the faith? What can you do when it feels like relationships chug along at the cost of keeping the peace and avoiding contentious topics? First, decide where the relationship fits with your vocation. Is it given to you as a wife, mother, daughter, sister, friend, Ect to engage this person on this subject? Next, pray about…
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Helping A Sister Through Sadness
By Holly Scheer Sometimes a sister we love is suffering, and for all our desire to help, we simply don’t know what to do. Whether it’s a grief that stretches over time or a temporary sadness, the suffering of our loved ones and friends is difficult to bear. Here are some simple suggestions for showing care and concern for a suffering sister. Pray for her. Sometimes it can feel trite to tell someone we’re praying for them but it’s not. Prayer is powerful and should be our first step. Pray for her, and pray with her if she wants. Ask if she wants to be added to the prayer list…
