Our Marriage is For a Lifetime
This week in the Dispatch:
More Christmas facts and questions for you!
John Grisham brings Jake Brigance back in books!
Larry Hagner on the Awesome Marriage Podcast
Meet Joe and Mary in Insights
Challenges and a Next Step to bring out the possible in your marriage!
This Week’s Quick Hits:
Here are some more interesting Christmas facts:
U.S. playing card company Bicycle, manufactured cards to give all the POWS in Germany during World War II as Christmas presents. These cards, when soaked in water, revealed an escape route for POWs. The Nazis never knew.
In Poland, spiders are considered symbols of prosperity and goodness at Christmas. In fact, spiders and spider webs are often used as Christmas tree decorations. According to legend, a spider wove baby Jesus a blanket to keep him warm.
Tinsel was invented in 1610 in Germany and was once made of real silver.
Can you answer these questions?
Where is the world’s largest nativity scene located?
What year was Santa’s wife, Mrs. Claus, first introduced to the world?
Which Old Testament prophet had the most to say about the birth of Christ?
Book:
A Time for Mercy by John Grisham
The very first book by John Grisham that I read was A Time to Kill which was published in 1989. The main character, Jake Brigance, returned in 2013’s Sycamore Row and now again in 2020’s A Time for Mercy. Grisham is without a doubt my favorite fiction author. I think he is an excellent storyteller and a master with words. In this newest book, Brigance again finds himself in the courtroom defending a quiet 16-year-old boy accused of murdering a local deputy. There are plot twists and courtroom drama as Brigance fights to keep the boy out of the gas chamber. Grisham is truly at his best in the courtroom!
YouVersion Plan:
7 Churches of Revelation
This week’s featured YouVersion plan is “7 Churches of Revelation” by Pastor Dylan Dodson. This is a great seven day plan that helps us see how Jesus’ grace moves us to action, no matter how much we may fall short!
Podcasts:
This week is the last Awesome Marriage Podcast for 2020 before we take a four-week break and we have saved one of the best for last. Larry Hagner is a good friend who leads the Good Dad Project and joins me as we talk about three essential ways to connect with your kids and create positive lasting memories. If you are looking for some new ideas to help make you a better parent in 2021, this podcast is for you!
Insights
Joe and Mary
Joe was in love. He had never met someone like Mary. She was beautiful inside and out. He was waiting for the perfect time to ask her to marry him and was excited to spend the rest of his life with her. Mary was a virgin and Joe wanted to keep it that way until they were married. Was that going to be a challenge? Yes. Of course it would be because he was so attracted to her.
As Mary did her morning chores around the house, she was suddenly aware of a bright light in her living room. She thought she must be going crazy because she knew she was seeing an angel. An angel. What could that mean? Then the angel began to speak. “Mary you have been chosen by God for something very special. You will become pregnant and have a son. This son will be special in a way no one else ever has been or ever will be. This will be God’s son. You will remain a virgin and God will work a miracle with your conception.” Mary was overwhelmed. There was excitement, joy and confusion and then she wondered, “What in the world will I tell Joe? What will he think? Will he stick around or go?” So many questions!
If Nancy came to me when we were dating and told me she was pregnant and that God had worked a miracle, I would probably have fainted. Did she really expect me to believe this story? What about the life we had planned together? Who was this woman I thought I knew so well? Should I stick around or run? When Mary told her story to Joe, he proved to be a better man that I think I would have been. He did not want her to be disgraced with an out of wedlock pregnancy and seriously contemplated how to pull that off.
Enter another angel. This one was for Joe. In a dream, this angel not only confirmed Mary’s story to be true but also told Joe to marry her. Then do you know what Joe did? This blew me away! I could not believe Joe’s obedience. He woke up from the dream, married Mary, and did not have sex with her until after the baby was born. Another miracle of sorts!
I like to bring stories from Bible times into our culture today. This, of course, is one of those stories. It is the greatest story ever told. It is the story of God coming to earth in the form of a baby. It’s the story of a Savior born to a virgin. It’s the story of light penetrating the darkness. All of that is amazing. But what about Joe and Mary? What about their relationship that was headed one direction and took a quick 180? The Bible tells us that Joe took care of Mary. He provided for her and his family. Together they raised God’s son. It never mattered what others thought or said, their focus stayed on God.
Has your spouse ever disappointed you? Have there been surprises in your marriage that were hard to deal with? Marriage is about the long haul. I have disappointed Nancy. I have given her difficult things to deal with. She would say she has done the same. For us, if we got stuck on a particular disappointment or negative surprise, we would not be married today. We had to look at the big picture. We learned that our marriage is for a lifetime. Our marriage is for the mountain tops and the valleys. It is a journey for the two of us with God at the center. It is about giving each other a lot of grace and trusting God day after day. Joe got that. He knew God had a plan for him and Mary and he trusted God and this plan. God has a plan for your marriage too. Trust Him. Trust Him to do the impossible. Trust Him to give you grace for each other. Trust Him to give you an Awesome Marriage!
Challenge:
Have you ever disappointed your spouse? How and when?
Have there been difficult surprises in your marriage? What were they and how have you dealt with them?
What do the words “Marriage is for a lifetime” mean to you?
Next Step:
If you put trust in God to do the impossible, what would you want Him to do?
Answers to Christmas Questions:
Einsiedeln, Switzerland - 450 figures were hand carved and set in front of a huge painted background (30 meters in length) to tell the story of Christmas.
1889 - She was introduced through a poem called “Goody Santa Claus on a Sleigh Ride” — Goody referring to Goodwife (Mrs.).
Isaiah - Isaiah was believed to have lived 700 years before the birth of Jesus.
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