Love and Marriage

I'm back!  Finally, things have slowed down a bit.  There have been some quite big changes happen for me since I last wrote.  I have moved to a new apartment... and I'm a Mrs. now!!!  Last Saturday was the wedding and it was wonderful.  It was simple and Tim and I both enjoyed it very much.  I think most of the people involved enjoyed it, actually, which is what we really wanted most.  The day was great and we have been excited ever since.  We flew off to Chicago for our honeymoon and made a quick trip to Houston after that to visit friends in the states from Romania.  And now, we are at home.  We are trying to get things set up and arranged how we like them.  As I write, I have a husband in the kitchen putting dishes away!

Although I have not been keeping up with the blog, I have been keeping up with my reading.  But I must confess it has been hard to stay focused lately during my reading, so I am eager to be writing down my thoughts again.  I think the main reason for lack of focus has just been so many thoughts swirling around in my head about a million different things.  I am hoping that with the move and the wedding over, my time with the Lord will go back to its meaningful, fulfilling time that I am used to.  I have missed feeling a closeness to the Lord through His word.  So, on that note I begin in Job...

Job 34-36
Let me give some background before getting to today's reading- Job has been confusing me.  I had some ideas of what Job was about.  To put it very shortly, I thought he experienced hardship but was faithful to the Lord.  In the first part of this book, his sons and daughters and flocks die and he is afflicted with bad health.  He has three friends that talk to him a lot and it seemed to me, were advising him to trust in the Lord and were trying to encourage him that all would turn out right.  But he became very angry with them and did not want to hear what they had to say.  Job would acknowledge that God is in control and all powerful, but he would also say that there was  nothing that God would do for him.  Then, a man named Elihu burned with anger toward Job because he "justified himself rather than God."  And today I will find out what Elihu has to say to Job.
Elihu tells Job that he is not greater than God.  He rebukes Job for think the way that he has and tells him that he is not right.  Then he talks about the greatness of God and His abilities and powers.

India-
For many days, I have been reading about India.  The country is so diverse and has hundreds of different people groups.  It was neat to read about all the different aspects of the country, especially since Tim recently went on a mission trip to India.  He was in Delhi and really enjoyed his time out of the country.  The thing that has not ceased to amaze me about India is just how diverse everything is.  Operation World broke the reading up by states in India because they are all so different and there is so much information about each one.  There was everything from fertile land to arid desert, from 1,000 people per square mile to 90 people per square mile, from industrious and prosperous to slums and poverty.  It seems like there are just about as many religions as there are people groups.  Some areas of the country are open to Christianity, and other areas are known for strong persecution of Christianity.  It is still very much a minority, no matter where it is.  Pray for the Christians in India to be strong in their faith and to share the Truth they know with others.

Proverbs 22:10-13
v. 10- "Drive out a scoffer, and strife will go out, and quarreling and abuse will cease."  This makes me think of my new neighbors and I'm glad to have scripture to pray for them.

Psalm 44
This psalm was written by children of people who had experienced the Lord first hand and had been told the stories of the great things He did for them.  They believe and follow the Lord, but are being persecuted, so the psalm is a cry for help.

2 Corinthians 4:1-5:10
This portion of Scripture is talking about not losing heart.  Paul is saying that they are speaking the gospel just as it is, without trying to make it more appealing to the world.  He says that God uses us to shine His light in this way.  Then he goes on to talk about being persecuted, afflicted, perplexed, but not defeated.  They speak the gospel anyways, because they know that God can raise the dead and that He has a body and place prepared for them that do not belong to this world.  What courage!!!