This Settles It: Moments Win!
This week in the Dispatch:
Valentine’s Day is coming in Quick Hits!
Michael Todd’s book on relationships
A YouVersion plan for the guys!
On next Tuesday’s podcast: What are Spiritual Disciplines?
Time, Moments, and Love in Insights
And of course Challenges and a Next step for all of us!
This Week’s Quick Hits:
This one is for the guys: Valentine’s Trivia. If you have not started thinking about and planning what to do for Valentine’s Day, this is your heads up. On February 14th, all the cards will be gone, the candy will be picked over, and the restaurants that are open will be booked solid!
Passing out Valentines is a 600-year-old tradition. While imprisoned in the Tower of London, Charles Duke of Orleans wrote a hand-written poem to his wife in 1415.
This year Hallmark, the card guru, tells us that 144 million greeting cards will be exchanged!
Where did the phrase “wear your heart on your sleeve” come from? In the Middle Ages, young men and women drew names to see who their Valentine would be. According to the Smithsonian, they wore the name pinned to their sleeve for one week so that everyone would know their supposed true feelings.
Where did candy hearts originate? In 1847, Boston pharmacist Oliver Chase invented a machine to simplify the lozenge production process, resulting in the first candy-making machine, according to The Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America. After identifying this as an opportunity to revolutionize the candy business, Chase shifted his focus to candy, producing Necco wafers. It wasn't until 15 years later that Daniel Chase's brother, Oliver, developed a way to press words onto the candy lozenges with a felt roller pad and vegetable food coloring. According to HuffPost, the conversational candies became heart-shaped in 1902, and today Necco says about 100,000 are sold each year.
Book:
Relationship Goals by Michael Todd
So here I am, a relationship guy, telling you about a relationship book. Michael Todd is not only a gifted speaker, he is also an awesome writer. He is open, honest, and transparent as he digs into the topics of dating, marriage, and sex. Michael unpacks the sexual relationship as designed by God better than I have ever heard it before. This is a powerful book, well worth the time you will spend reading or listening to it.
YouVersion Plan:
This week’s featured Awesome Marriage YouVersion plan is “Fighting to be a Man of God.” In this six-day plan, my Pastor, Craig Groeschel, joins me to learn more about steps to take to become the man of God you were created to be.
Podcasts:
Next Tuesday on the Awesome Marriage Podcast Christina and I will talk about “Creating Healthy Spiritual Disciplines.” Just what are spiritual disciplines? And why are they important to our marriages? If you are looking to get on the right track spiritually, this podcast is for you!
Insights
Minutes Or Moments?
I came across a quote this week that I’ve heard somewhere before, but this time it really hit me: “Time is measured in minutes; life is measured in moments.” I can get so caught up in what I am doing - deadlines, schedules, appointments and meetings - that I get stuck in the minutes and lose focus of the moments.
Our grandkids, like many kids across our nation, are on an A/B school schedule because of COVID. They go to school on Thursday and Friday and are virtual on Monday and Tuesday. On those days, our two youngest are with Nancy and me in our home. Eli is 8 and Gracie is 11, and they are awesome. So on Mondays and Tuesdays, Nancy is the teacher and I am the principal!
Last Monday I was trying to write. I was facing deadlines so I was really trying to crank it out. In the early afternoon, Eli had finished his schoolwork for the day, so he popped into my office a couple of times to ask when I would be through with my work. Each time I answered, “I don’t know,” without looking up. Mid afternoon, the door to my office opened just a little bit and Eli’s head peeked in. At that moment, I remembered the quote and thought, “What am I doing?” I was missing a moment! I asked him to come in. He hopped up on my lap and I asked him what he wanted to do. He said, “I don’t care, I just want to be with you.” That settled it: Moments win! I saved my docs, closed my computer, and in just a few minutes, we were off to the Blue Zoo to pet stingrays and look at sharks.
Sometimes I get the truth mixed up. When I am struggling, I think, “Where are you God? Do you see me? I’m struggling. Remember me? I’m your guy. I tell people around the world about You and your plan for marriage. Where are you?” On January 6, 2021 I felt completely mixed up and wondered where God was amid the awful chaos we saw in the US. When I opened my Bible reading plan that day, this was the Scripture:
“But now, GOD’s Message, the God who made you in the first place, Jacob, the One who got you started, Israel: “Don’t be afraid, I’ve redeemed you. I’ve called your name. You’re mine. When you’re in over your head, I’ll be there with you. When you’re in rough waters, you will not go down. When you’re between a rock and a hard place, it won’t be a dead end— Because I am GOD, your personal God, The Holy of Israel, your Savior. I paid a huge price for you: all of Egypt, with rich Cush and Seba thrown in! That’s how much you mean to me! That’s how much I love you! I’d sell off the whole world to get you back, trade the creation just for you.” Isaiah 43:1-4 MSG
The heaviness and chaos did not disappear. But I knew again that I was not alone. God was there and He really did care. That truth alone made all the difference in the world to me.
Challenge:
Which is dominating your life today - minutes or moments?
What can you do that will allow you to embrace the moments that God puts in front of you?
When are you vulnerable to get God’s truth mixed up in your mind?
Next Step:
Read through Isaiah 43:1-4 again and personalize it by putting your name in place of the names “Jacob” and “Israel” and in place of the word “you.”
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