Sage Thougts #47 Nancy Lou's Waffle Stomper Disaster

    

         " Would you like to buy the Los Angeles Times? "  There were many benefits in being self- employed  at ten years old. One of the perks in delivering newspapers was that I  owned the best red wagon on earth. This wooden marvel could carry more papers than I could pull, and it withstood a thousand trips to Bell's Country  Store, where Jackie, Billy, and I would rush those groceries  home before the neopolitan ice cream became one flavor.

    But this day my wagon had more precious cargo than round steak tenderized. It was Nancy Lou's birthday, and she just couldn't wait for  Mom to finish decorating her  birthday cake.  
    Mom said, " Donnie, get your wagon and push your sister down the street until I finish this cake. She is driving me crazy!"  

    So I pushed that wagon  up and down the sidewalk until my arms hung limp. I didn't mind really. I was excited about her party too. Boy was she going to be surprised!  I had saved  enough money from my paper route to buy her a pair of  Waffle Stompers.  Every kid in the neighborhood wanted these shoes, including Nancy Lou... especially Nancy Lou.

    A few days later I was playing on the Slip and Slide and  went inside  for a glass of  ice water. Nancy happened to walk by as I pulled the ice cube tray out of the freezer, but  someone had beaten me to the cubes and all that was left was a tray of cold water. The water splashed all over Nancy's Waffle Stompers and before I could say, "I'm sorry," Nancy had  clearly expressed her displeasure.  There were ten cat-like scratches on my chest, not as deep as a well, or wide as a barn door, but like Shakespeare said, "Tis enough, 'twill serve."  

    In a moment, Nancy's outrage turned to regret. She had reacted with emotion. She loved her shoes, and the fact that I bought them didn't immediately factor into her response. We laughed  about this just the other day, and she told me  to use it.  (I wouldn't want you to think I was telling tales out of school.)  Although a bit extreme, I understood that Nancy Lou  was speaking (actually screaming) the language of love.

    Now, I've got a sweet deal going with my Brenda. On January 11th, twenty-five years ago, I dropped one of the deli plates in the dirt, while frantically searching for dripless candles.... In other words, our wedding day.  I love her more now than ever, but it took awhile before I understood a woman's language. Once I figured out how to translate, it's been an easy ride.

    I have learned that " I'll never do this again!"  usually means, " I am frustrated. Let me vent."  And  " The trash is overflowing"  much like Scripture, may have several implications.  Yes, it may simply mean that the trash is overflowing, but it might also mean, " You have not spent any time with me today. I want to know that you still find me desirable."

    God has made man  the spiritual leader, not to lord over, but to love, honor and protect wife and family.  We need to live godly lives, putting the interests of others above our own.   We all know the story of Job's wife. I ache for her. I think she might have gotten  a bad rap. She had a moment.  Her children were dead, her wealth was gone, and her once-respected husband was ridiculed.  In frustration, she listened to the enemy and said to Job,
 " Are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse God and die."

    Job stood firm. He was the spiritual leader. He responded, " You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God and not trouble?"  Notice that Job didn't say his wife was a foolish woman. At that one moment, she talked like one. Only God knows the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. I can't judge her one way or the other. I do know that she and Job were both blessed at the end of the story. They lived happily ever after.

    Lot's wife is another example. I'm not defending her actions when the angel said not to look back, and she did anyway. We know that God considered Lot a righteous man because we read in Peter 2:7-8       "and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard.)"

    We also know that Lot made a lot of mistakes. The tragic story of his daughters wouldn't have happened if he had stepped up and gotten them husbands, as was his duty.  I just wonder, if Lot had held his wife, and said, " Honey, don't look back.  I know you are leaving everything you have. But you still have me. We still have God. I will love you and protect you, and God will protect us. Honey, don't look back."

    Once again, only God knows the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. I don't know what Lot's wife was thinking. Maybe nothing Lot could have done would have changed the outcome. But I know that when I finally stepped up, and put my wife's needs before my own, and when she became the most beautiful woman in the world, truly, none could compare to her. I know that if I said, "Honey, don't look back," she wouldn't.  Men, step up to the plate. Love your wife. Pray for her daily. Let her be the most beautiful woman in the world. Walk... no, run away from the sexual temptations that overflow from the television and  internet, and find love only in your own wife's embrace.