Real Life by Peggi Tustan

Welcome to Real Life . Is jealousy ever a good thing? Only a year after we vowed lifelong love, something was terribly wrong in our marriage. My husband was spending more and more time away from home. At first, he made lame excuses. Later, he didn't even bother with that. Finally, he left. He moved in with another woman. The pain of his betrayal plunged like a knife, deep into my heart. I was jealous, of course. My husband was bedding another woman.  We divorced. Eventually, my heart healed. God has since blessed me with a faithful, loving husband of 30 years, Terry. However, the memory of my first husband's betrayal helps me understand this aspect of God: "For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God."   Deut. 4:24 NIV Jealousy. It’s usually considered a negative trait. We assign it to unhealthy relationships. One partner is insecure and, therefore, jealous of any other relationships in his lover’s life. From this perspective, attributing...

Photo by Rick Osentoski, USA Today Sports Welcome to Real Life . It’s autumn—footfall season in the Cleveland. Though I don’t know much about the game, I know this: as critical as defense is, it takes offense to win. You gotta score. To do that, you must move the football down the field, past your enemies, and into the end zone. Moses and the Children of Israel understood defense. For forty years, they focused on staying safe and alive while traversing the desert wilderness. Now, camped at Horeb on the border of the Promised Land, God calls them to shift focus.  “You've stayed long enough on this mountain. Break camp and advance into the hill country of the Amorites.” It’s time for some offense. “Go in and take possession of the land that the Lord swore he would give to your fathers—to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—and to their descendants after them.” God wants them to move out, engage the enemy, and conquer the Promised Land.  It’s time for Israel to score some ...

Welcome to Real Life . Does God laugh out loud? I never pictured him so. I imagined him stern and sober.  Sharing a laugh (and ice cream) with my son Yet, he created us with a sense of humor. God endowed us with the capacity for over-the-top, jumping up and down joy. We bear his image. I dearly love to laugh. Why, then, should I consider it strange to imagine God enjoying a full belly laugh? Part of the barrier that blocked me from experiencing God’s love was the way I imaged him. He is holy. And holiness has a reputation for quietness, solemnity, and seriousness—no goofing around. When I was still a young believer in Christ, my sister Terre and I visited a friend’s church to hear a guest evangelist. Somehow, we got the service time wrong. We arrived late. As we entered the sanctuary, it was jam-packed for the special speaker. The preacher was already rising to speak. Our friend was impossible to locate in the crowd. Since all the rear pews were full, the only open seats lay...

Welcome to Real Life . What does God want from me? Does he want me to clean up my act, get to church, and serve my fellow man? What’s most important? Like a modern political debate, the Pharisees and teachers of the law were posing questions to Jesus in order to trap him into saying something blasphemous, worthy of arrest, or even death. However, one of these teachers recognized the wisdom in Jesus’ answers. He posed a sincere question,  “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” “Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. To love him with all your heart, with all your underst...

Welcome to Real Life . How do I feel about children? Are they important to me? Optional? A waste of my precious time? How does God feel about children? Let's look at Jesus’ blessing of the children from another perspective. Lately, it seems like my primary responsibility is crowd control. This is not what I signed up for when I decided to follow Jesus. But, I don’t mind. I don’t blame the crowds for coming to catch a glimpse of Jesus. I never know what remarkable thing he’ll do next. Give sight to the blind? Make paralyzed limbs move again? Restore the putrid skin of a leper? I even saw Jesus raise a dead man. For three days, his friend Lazarus lay decomposing in a tomb until the Lord called his name. Then Lazarus came wobbling out, still bound up in burial clothes. I almost fainted! Who, but God, can do that? No, I don’t blame people for coming. However, a few days ago, parents started bringing their children to Jesus to be blessed. With everything the rabbi has to do and teach...

Welcome to Real Life. How does age affect our image of God? Are you ever too young to believe? Or, too old? Cal as a toddler “I want to go to heaven.” My three-year-old son Calvin told me one Sunday morning after church. "Why?" I asked. "I want to go to heaven to be with Jesus," he answered. ~~~~~ Parents brought their children to Jesus so that he could lay his hands on them and bless them. The disciples were annoyed. They thought the parents were wasting Jesus’ time and told them to leave. When Jesus saw what was happening, he said to the disciples, "Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children. I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn’t receive the kingdom of God like a child will never enter it." Then, Jesus took the children into his arms and blessed them. ~~~~~ Sometimes, when people hear that my son prayed and invited Jesus into his heart at age three, they a...

Welcome to Real Life . Hope. It’s priceless. Without it, I feel lost, helpless, and defeated. I've been there — hopeless. Where do I find the strength to go on when hope is gone?  The Christian life is not a constant high. I have my moments of deep discouragement. I have to go to God in prayer with tears in my eyes, and say, 'O God, forgive me,' or 'Help me.' – Billy Graham Jairus, a synagogue ruler, falls at Jesus’ feet and pleads, “My little daughter is dying. Please come and lay your hands on her; heal her so she can live.” Jesus agrees to accompany Jairus to his house. A throng follows, pressing in and jostling them as they go. Hidden within the crowd is a woman. She’s suffered twelve years from a bleeding disorder. She’s exhausted her savings on physicians. Nothing has helped. Hope is gone … until she hears of Jesus’ miracles. “If I can just touch his clothes, I’ll be healed.” She pushes through the crowd and touches him. Immediately, she feels it. The blee...