- Morning Devotional
- April 24,
2005
"One Flesh"
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And the LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a companion who will help him." So the LORD God formed from the soil every kind of animal and bird. He brought them to Adam to see what he would call them, and Adam chose a name for each one. He gave names to all the livestock, birds, and wild animals. But still there was no companion suitable for him. So the LORD God caused Adam to fall into a deep sleep. He took one of Adam's ribs and closed up the place from which he had taken it. Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib and brought her to Adam. "At last!" Adam exclaimed. "She is part of my own flesh and bone! She will be called `woman,' because she was taken out of a man." This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one. (Genesis 2:18-24 NLT).
The New Testament is very clear about our need to love. Certainly this is true with those whom we are closest to in life. Our family ought to be the center of our love and attention. While recently looking through some old notes, I found the following paragraph:
You can see them alongside the shuffleboard courts in Florida or on the porches of the old folks' homes up north: an old man with snow-white hair, a little hard of hearing, reading the newspaper through a magnifying glass; an old woman in a shapeless dress, her knuckles gnarled by arthritis, wearing sandals to ease her aching arches. They are holding hands, and in a little while they will totter off to take a nap, and then she will cook supper, not a very good supper and they will watch television, each knowing exactly what the other is thinking, until it is time for bed. They may even have a good, soul-stirring argument, just to prove that they still really care. And through the night they will snore unabashedly, each resting content because the other is there. They are in love, they have always been in love, although sometimes they would have denied it. And because they have been in love they have survived everything that life could throw at them, even their own failures.1
Mary and I are moving to North Carolina. That is not news to you if you have been readers of Morning Devotionals for the last few weeks. You know that I moved to North Carolina February 1st and began work in Chapel Hill. Some of you have been honest with your questions asking if had lost my mind! I can tell you that there are various opinions about that without such a drastic move! However, I can say that at least one thing has been accomplished during the past two months. I have come to realize again how completely lost I am without Mary.
I have plenty to keep me busy. My work schedule has been hectic and full of new challenges. Kyle and Brandy have been wonderful to open their home to me. I am surrounded by the love and attention of my grandchildren. In fact, Logan and I have developed our own language of grants, snorts, and laughs. Faith has learned that it is very easy to melt Grandpa’s heart by the slightest of smiles and lifting her hands in the air to be picked up and carried wherever she desires. But with all of that, I miss the quiet assurance of Mary beside me. I once again have realized that we are one flesh. For those of you who are married, do you need a little reminder? Let this be a gentle nudge to revitalize your relationship.
1. Ernest Havemann, Bits & Pieces, June 24, 1993, pp. 7-9.
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