Joe and Margaret - Tuesday, October 17, 2000

Tuesday, October 17, 2000

Margaret wondered if she dared talk about those pantsuits to Joe. She had finished a couple of nice ones over the last week. But all she needed to do know were the finishing touches. “I’ll finish those while Joe is cooking supper. I wonder what he’ll do to the meat loaf this week. For all that we eat the same things each week Joe is becoming very creative. The Monday macaroni and cheese was really quite good with the fresh pasta that he made. Wednesday’s soup was a disaster. And I keep doing the plain old pot roast on Sunday. But then I’ve hated cooking since I started it.”

The pantsuits were finished when Margaret smelled the meatloaf. She called down, “Joe, that smells great, what have you done this time?”

“It’s nothing, just something from a cook book.”

“Well, I never got meatloaf to smell that good. I’ve just finished my sewing project and I’ll be down after I put everything away.” Margaret thought, “I’ll tell him about the quilt for the raffle if he asks what I’ve finished. He ought to be pleased that I’ve done something for the church, though it’s little enough for the way they’ve supported and welcomed me even knowing my past. Maybe I’ll put off mentioning the pantsuits for another day. The dress really didn’t hinder me all that much and Joe does mention how much he likes to see me dressed as a woman. He made that clear after I finished the yard last week. And Pastor Larry says the same thing about how women should dress as women and men as men and “That means dresses unless the job absolutely requires slacks for modesty’s sake. But Joe used to get so excited when he saw me in jeans. Oh well, I should do as God commands what God wants is our obedience. And now, that sounds like half-hearted obedience, I’ll have to spend some time praying about my hardness of heart. It has been so hard giving up those ways of sin. Giving up the life was easy compared to changing my heart into what is conformable to God. Pastor Larry has given me so many directions and I can follow so few of them. Yet he still feels I’m good example of one reclaimed. I just hope I can be as perfect a Christian as I ought to be.