Also, here is a quick review of what we have covered so far.
1st Commandment “You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:1-3).
Love Command: Love is Loyal
2nd Commandment “You shall not worship idols” (Exodus 20:4).
Love Command: Love is Faithful
3rd Commandment “You shall not take the name of the LORD in vain” (Exodus 20:7).
Love Command: Love is Reverent
4th Commandment “Keep the Sabbath holy” (Exodus 20:8).
Love Command: Love is Intimate
5th Commandment “Honor your father and your mother” (Exodus 20:12).
Love Command: Love is Respectful
Today we continue our series on the Ten Commandments and the Love Commands.
6th Commandment “You shall not murder” (Exodus 20:13).
Love Command: Love is Harmless
Today we touch on a really difficult commandment: Love is harmless. I am supposing that statement touches a lot of you out there today, because for so many people love has been anything but harmless. In fact, for many, by the time you reach my age, you have been on both sides of that coin. Each of us has been the one who has harmed others and the one who has been harmed. And honestly, chances are we will be on both sides of that coin many time before we die. However, I desire to be on neither side as do you, I would suppose. The truth is, one of those sides of the coin we have no control over. The other we do. We can do our best to make sure our love toward others is harmless. So, what might that look like? Well, ask yourself if you are careful with your words, your actions, your thoughts toward others. Do you consider the weight of the things you say to others and your actions toward them? I challenge you this week to be aware of your words to others and how you talk to yourself.
Remember, the last 6 commandments are about our love toward others and our self. What would happen if you caught yourself each time before the words leave your mouth that would bring harm to someone? Give it a try this week and see what happens.
Dominican News…
We have only 28 more missionary women to sponsor as of this writing! Yeah God! Keep praying and give as He leads!
Now remember I told you I was going to ask the team to share some things about what it has been like to be a part of the team so far, and I also was going to ask the missionary women to weigh in with some fun facts about Dominican and/or just missionary life in general. Well, the team came up short for this blog but NOT the missionary women. The first fun fact comes in from our missionary sister Kelly.
Fun fact - Kelly
We all know the good ol' "Vick's Vaporub" our grandmothers kept in the bathroom medicine cabinet (in fact my grandmother still has one in hers that is made of glass!). Well, here in the D.R. this is a standard for all - and the slang name for it is "Mentól". In fact it is sooo commonly used and for soooo many purposes that it is even manufactured in a handy-dandy purse size pod! And soooo cheap too - gotta love that! Well, let me explain all of the ways it is used here. Mosquito bites? - dab on a little Mentól! Bad headache? - rub some on the forehead and temples! Horrible cough or as we would say here, "gripe"? - put it everywhere - head to toe! A bad bang on the head, and got a little swelling? - smother it with Mentól - it will bring the swelling down! And last but not least...the lady that works for me, dear Miriam, always makes me a homemade tea of sour orange leaves, the spice "malagueta" ( I have noo idea what that is in English), cinnamon, and...you guessed it, a dab of Mentól when my headaches have turned into "jaquecas" or migraines!!! Now if any of my dear friends from the D.R. are reading this - I know you are laughing your heads off right now, because you know that I have converted - I have a pod of "Mentól" in every cupboard and in every purse - it really does work :)! Blessings to all today!
All I can say to that is…anything that starts out with the first four letters being Vick can’t be anything but good! Ha, ha, ha!
Have a great week!
Love you all!
His,
Vickie