It Takes Three

I've been struck with a rhinovirus.

I could tell you that I have a common cold, but "rhinovirus" sounds much more intriguing. Actually, the way this thing has hit me, I feel more like I was struck by a rhinoceros. I wish I owned a photograph of a rhinoceros, so I could post it here for emphasis, but rhinos don't inhabit Estes Park. Unfortunately, rhinovirus do. 

I've learned a lot about this nasty little bug the past five days. (How did we ever research anything before the internet?) The details would only bore you, so let's just leave it at this. . . I've got my netti pot, hot Tazo mint tea with lemonade and honey (a recipe given to me by my friend at Starbucks), a hefty supply of chicken noodle soup and orange juice (mucho gracias to my beloved husband), and a pile of books and movies. This rhinovirus is doomed.

Ok, enough of all that. Let's get down to business. I usually post weekly photos when I blog, but since I've been quarantined in our apartment the past five days, I haven't been able to get outdoors with my camera. However, I've been looking through my wildlife photographs and found these taken in Big Thompson Canyon about ten days ago. Do you think these Big Horn are making a statement?

Ok, ok. If you don't like that one, how about this photo of a lone ram?

I was thrilled to finally photograph Big Horn sheep. They are stunning animals.

Next week I hope to be back up in RMNP with my hubby, camera in tow. Speaking of my husband, while walking by a new store in town this morning, The White Orchid, a placard in the window caught his eye. The words about Christian marriage written by Tertullian, an early Christian author, made quite an impression on him. When he got home he told me what he had read, and we looked up the text on the internet. The words were written by Tertullian around 200 AD in a letter to his wife:

How beautiful, then, the marriage of two Christians, two who are one in hope, one in desire, one in the way of life they follow, one in the religion they practice.

They are as brother and sister, both servants of the same Master. Nothing divides them, either in flesh or in Spirit. They are in very truth, two in one flesh; and where there is but one flesh there is also but one spirit.

They pray together, they worship together, they fast together; instructing one another, encouraging one another, strengthening one another.

Side by side they face difficulties and persecution, share their consolations. They have no secrets from one another, they never shun each other's company; they never bring sorrow to each other's hearts… Psalms and hymns they sing to one another.

Hearing and seeing this, Christ rejoices. To such as these He gives His peace. Where there are two together, there also He is present, and where He is, there evil is not.

We printed off the words and posted them on our refrigerator door. It's a visual reminder of the kind of marriage Dennis and I are committed to have. We can't do it by ourselves. Christ must be at the center of our  union. It takes three.

Adam's Rib

Dennis and I met last October through an online Christian dating service. He wrote in his profile, "I want a wife that I can cherish as Christ loved the church". Those words hit me hard.  Christ loved the church so much that He gave His very life for it. If Dennis desired to love his wife that way, then he was a man I wanted to know.

It didn't take long for me to realize that Dennis is an honest man and that every word he wrote is true. In this joyful altitude where we live he delivers on that promise every day. I've never felt more loved or cherished in my life.  

This Matthew Henry quote came across my laptop screen today:

"The woman was made of a rib out of the side of Adam; not made out of his head to rule over him, nor out of his feet to be trampled on by him; but out of his side to be equal to him, under his arm to be protected, and near his heart to be loved."

I am equal with my husband and he treats me as such. But he also protects and loves me. A wonderful combination.

--NR

Joy 7,522 Feet Above Sea Level

Watercolor by Dennis Reinke

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Romans 15:13

When Dennis and I married on Valentine's Day in Allenspark, Colorado, the theme of our wedding was "Joy".  Our vows, the music we chose and the toasts we made were all about choosing joy in all things.  Both of us had come through hard times and through those experiences God had taught each of us that joy truly is a choice.  The Bible tells us to "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." (James 1:2-4)


Is it easy to choose joy when you've lost a spouse to death and you're all alone?  Or your marriage has ended through no choice of your own and you find yourself in the depths of despair?  No, it isn't easy.  But that's where the Holy Spirit comes in. By depending upon His power we can live the joyful life that comes through persevering in our faith, and matures us, conforming us more to the image of Christ.


The Reinkes want to have an attitude of joy no matter what the circumstances.  Dennis is an established artist (http://dennisreinke.com/) and I am an aspiring writer.  I started this blog in an effort to hone my writing skills, as well as journal my life in Estes Park, Colorado...a high altitude location.  Maintaining a joyful attitude in high (or low) altitude is one of my goals.  By the power of the Holy Spirit I will achieve it.