I Corinthians 13 (The Message)

"The Way of Love"

1 If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. 2If I speak God's Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, "Jump," and it jumps, but I don't love, I'm nothing. 3-7If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love.

Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn't want what it doesn't have.
Love doesn't strut,
Doesn't have a swelled head,
Doesn't force itself on others,
Isn't always "me first,"
Doesn't fly off the handle,
Doesn't keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn't revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.

8-10Love never dies. Inspired speech will be over some day; praying in tongues will end; understanding will reach its limit. We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete. But when the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be canceled.

11When I was an infant at my mother's breast, I gurgled and cooed like any infant. When I grew up, I left those infant ways for good.

12We don't yet see things clearly. We're squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won't be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We'll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!

13But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.

My "Gym Nazi"

My daughter, Tamela, is studying to be a "Personal Trainer" which I am convinced is just another word for "Gym Nazi." She has encoraged me to go to the gym to begin working out to get in better physical shape because she is so concerned about heart disease that runs in our family. I didn't even know what to wear for that sort of thing because all I own are work and gardening clothes which neither were appropriate. I ended up with my tankini which I wear to the pool and a pair of pajama bottoms that would pass for sweat pants and I looked lovely!

Both my girls came to my first class and Tamela threatened me that I better not embarrass her, I believe that was her pep talk to me as a "Personal Trainer." I know she didn't learn that in any personal training handbook because she has been saying that since she turned 13 years old. Talk about "flashbacks," that alone nearly put me in the fetal position and I dared not tell her I was wearing my pajama bottoms.

Deena just waited for the moment for me to do something embarrassing because she is a huge fan of my warped sense of humor and I can see she is trying to develop it herself, my little protege. That should scare me should I ever see my bizarre personality come out of any of my girls; unfortunately, my son Nick was born with it so that alone explains a lot about him and I do have to take responsibility for some of his behavior.

The class was brutal, this little "perky" woman that reminded me a lot of the animated character "Gumby" because she moved her body in ways that were not natural. There were things I couldn't possibly EVER do and so I would just lay on the floor and Tamela would urge, MOM, JUST MOVE SOMETHING! I answered, I want to go home and began to act as if I was going to crawl out of there. She didn't find it humorous but instead gave me a glare that I have seen her give her children and I found myself afraid of her too.

My face even hurts after the workout and I'm not sure which exercise did that but I am planning on going back for more pain. In fact, I'm thinking of going early one day next week and wearing a pink child's bicycle helmet and knee pads on the cycling machine when Tamela walks into the gym; of course, Deena loves the idea but I have to consider the fact that her sister may be taking care of me some day and paybacks are, well you know, not fun!

Donella Gallo
"Empress" of Hurricanes