I did NOT go to the gym at all last week.I did NOT go to the gym at all last week.I hate the gym. I did NOT go to the gym at all last week.  But seriously... I just COULD NOT GO to the gym last week.

I had an article due on Monday. 

On Tuesday I had to pick Phil up at the airport. 

On Wednesday I taught a Bible Study at church. 

On Thursday it was Valentine's Day. 

On Friday it was Friday.

And today is Saturday and it's not a regular gym day anyway. 

Tomorrow is Sunday and church.

I will go to the gym again on Monday - unless I die or something.  I probably won't die, but what would qualify as "something"?    
 

My friend Paulette sent an email that had a quote in it:  "Be kinder than necessary because everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle".   I don't know who said that but it's true.  Life is hard.  "Kindness" is a fruit of the Holy Spirit - something God wants to plant and cultivate inside me so that it shows in my every day existence.  Simple, everyday kindness is something that matters to God - therefore it should matter to me.   Life is a series of everyday battles that God gives us power to overcome.  If I view everyone I meet as a fellow warrior, then a cup of cold water is an easy thing to offer.

Speaking of losing battles:  I just bought my first LARGE PRINT edition of a new Bible.  I was at the store, and noticed it.. and picked it up.. and looked inside.. and WOW...those words are easy to read.   And even though I only need "100 strength" reading glasses that I buy at the Dollar Store (she says in a futile attempt to make excuses for her aging eyes) it occurred to me that this LARGE PRINT stuff serves a purpose - SEEING THE WORDS!! I remember when I was a little girl, the OLD ladies at church used LARGE PRINT BIBLES.....exactly.   AND ANOTHER THING:   the LARGE PRINT Bible is a BIG AND HEAVY book.  How do those old people lift them?  I just do.    

Did you see the news story about the quadraplegic who was arrested for a traffic violation and the officer who was supposed to frisk him got annoyed because he wasn't moving in the wheelchair fast enough??????  SO, he picks the wheelchair up in the back and dumps the guy on the hard floor - the guy in the wheelchair couldn't brace himself.. and he fell flat on his head.   The officer and his colleagues were  laughing all the while.  

He picks him up from the floor and literally throws him back in the wheelchair and all the officers are having a good laugh on this guy's pitiful plight.  The guy didn't know it then - because HE HAS NO FEELING - but the fall to the floor broke a couple of ribs.  

And then everybody went on their way thinking that they'd gotten away with doing this to another human being!!!!!!   I imagine the guy in the wheelchair felt helpless and that nobody cared about what had just been done to him...and the police officers figured they'd gotten away with it too

UNTIL...  OH... YEAH..somebody remembered that  the surveillance camera was recording it all.    And now the police officer has been suspended, the mayor is breathing down the neck of the police chief,  the entire world is looking with disdain at this police station in Florida and the guy in the wheelchair has some fine attorneys knocking at his door.  And I thought to myself: 

"Didn't they realize there was a camera watching them?  What were they thinking?  Doing that to someone when they HAD TO KNOW they were being watched????"    And the guy.....I wonder if he was thinking,  "Isn't anybody watching this? Doesn't anybody care about the way I'm being treated?".  I guess they all just forgot about the camera.  I guess there was a period of time when the camera didn't seem to be a reason to behave like a human being.   I guess that because the camera just kept silently recording and it SEEMED like it wasn't a factor.....everyone forgot it was there.

 But NOW everything has been REVEALED... and the guilty are being punished and their victims are being vindicated.   

And I wonder why we often forget that GOD is watching every thing that goes on down here?     Every single thing.  Every person who is being mistreated and the people who are mistreating them.  And someday... everyone will remember that everything has been recorded in heaven. You haven't "gotten away with" anything... and neither have I.  And someday.......with the whole of humanity watching.......we will have to give an account for what we did.........and didn't do.   
 

I still love you.  I still REALLY, REALLY love you with all my heart.  You know who you are. You know I'm typing to you.  I think about you all the time.  I wonder how you're doing.  You think about me too and wonder how I'm doing..(or you wouldn't be reading this now.. would you?..no... you wouldn't).   We are connected forever.  One Body.  Forever.  The foot cannot say the the hand "I have no need of you".  I pray for you.  Every day.  Every single day.  I still love you.  I still REALLY, REALLY, REALLY love you.

• Aren't we supposed to love one another?
  
• As Christians...isn't love supposed to be our greatest aim? Is it?
  
• Didn't Jesus say that to love one another was a new COMMANDMENT?
• Shouldn't I take the word "commandment" seriously?  Especially when it's coming from the person I claim is my Lord and Master?
• Isn't our love for one another the way the world will know that we are His disciples? 
• Do we focus on love as being our secret evangelism weapon?
  
• Does Jesus mean it when He says He will not accept lukewarm love from me?  Is He serious about expecting.. uh.. demanding that our passion for him remains white-hot and not cool off?  Is He serious?  He can't lie, right?  So, He's serious? He is?
  
• Is He seriously expecting us to love our enemies?
• Did He actually say that even heathen people love the people who love them back, but that we are called to LOVE our enemies?  Does He really mean what He said?  Is he saying "Big deal.. so you love those people who love you. Even heathens do that!"?
• Does the Love Chapter in 1 Corinthians 13 tell me that anything I do has to have LOVE as the motive?  Is it saying that if I'm trying to "do things for God", but my motive isn't love for God and people then I'm going to be as irritating as a clanging cymbal?  Am I?  Irritating?  Do I do EVERYTHING with love as my motive?
• When someone says my name does the word "love" ever pop up at the same time?
• Do I really and truly have to overlook it when someone has purposely set out to hurt me?  Gossip about me?  Misunderstands my motives?  Is jealous of me?  Hates me? Tries to destroy my reputation?  Hopes that I fail and tries to make it happen? Hates me without reason?   Doesn't take the time to understand what REALLY happened before they decided to walk away and say mean things about me??  I do?  I do?  Really? Seriously???  I do???
  
• Isn't it true that unless I realize that LOVE is required from me, love is something I will not seek?
• Isn't the only way for me to love this way is for God to do a miracle and transform my evil heart?
• Isn't this why I so desperately need the Holy Spirit?
• Shouldn't I be telling the Holy Spirit that I need His help because without His help there is NOTHING in me that wants to love God or others that way?
  
• Isn't the Holy Spirit going to accomplish this in my life if I ask Him to?
• Isn't love something that only God can place in my heart - but first I have to WANT to love the way He wants me to?
  
• Aren't we supposed to love one another - deeply, sincerely, completely??????
• DO WE?
  

So, I had some "real" writing due today.  A fictional article about being Adam and Eve. It was fun to write.   This will be a short blog because my writing brain cells are all used up.  Here's some information about YOU.

Lots of people in Central Pennsylvania are reading this.  People in Camp Hill, Mechanicsburg,  Newport, Carlisle, Newville, Duncannon, Philadelphia, Chalfont (where ever that is) and various other PA locations.  Some people in Wilkes Barre/Scranton.  Some of the hits are from businesses in Pennsylvania, some are from residence locations.  One hit was from a tire shop. Interesting.. huh?? Someone in a tire shop in PA is reading my blog.  Do I love you?  Do I know you?  

Someone from a place called "Seychelles" is checking this out...  People in New York have visited, Staten Island, Manhattan and Long Island.   A couple of hits from Tennessee.. Two colleges in TN have someone coming here three or four times a day.   Oh.. yes.. a college or two in Pennsylvania has someone.. or two.. or three visiting here.   A doctor's office in PA also has a Marie Blog fan.   INTERNATIONAL:  There's the United Kingdom with twelve visits, Peru, Norway, Sweden and Australia visiting here.   California, Texas and Florida.  Florida has more than ONE hit.. especially from Tampa.     Well, ok.. this is the kind of blog I write when my brain is blogged out from writing an article that I'm actually getting paid for.  We'll "tawk" tomorrow.. OK?    

I could write a million books about Phil Armenia......but it wouldn't be enough.   He was my first and only boyfriend.  My high school sweetheart.  I love him more than I could ever express.  I'm sure that many of you love your husbands too.  But this is MY BLOG and I'm going to write about mine.

He is everything that I am not.  He is kindness unlimited.  He is THE EXAMPLE of Christ.   His talents are unending... and...

I don't appreciate him as much as I should....though.. I try to appreciate the amazing gift God gave me when He gave me Phil.  He loves me and he reads my blog every day.  What a guy!  I am a strong woman.  Anyone who knows me for less than 3.2 seconds knows that.  But Phil has a gentle strength that isn't afraid of letting me be strong.  It's a miracle to me that God sent him to me.. when I was just a teenager.  We've had our share of sad times and good times too... We've stuck it out through thick and thin.   He's a-MAY-zing.   Anyway.. a few years back I wrote a poem about him.  Here it is:

MY HUSBAND IS A STRONG MAN (for Phil Armenia)

My husband is a strong man, bursting with virility 

His strength comes from the way he shows his masculinity;

He flatly tells the guys he missed the Big Game on TV

Because he took a lazy walk while holding hands with me.  

His arms are hard; his shoulders steel; he walks without a fear. 

He says he likes that I am soft; He says he needs me near; 

He thinks a coward gets his worth from crushing someone's spirit; 

He's happy when he sees me shine; He never seems to fear it. 

He tells me he wants me to be the best me I can be. 

My husband is a strong man and he's not afraid of me.

By Marie Armenia

copyright Marie Armenia/no reproduction without written permission