Day I Died (9781441267184) by Sjogren Steve; Hunter Todd (FRW)

Author:Sjogren, Steve; Hunter, Todd (FRW) [Sjogren, Steve]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Steve Sjogren (1955- ), Evangelists—United States—Biography, Brain damage—Patients—Biography
ISBN: 9781441267184
Publisher: Baker Pub Group
Published: 2014-05-21T00:00:00+00:00

Two Couples

Janie and I enjoy watching people. A while back we were out to dinner and noticed two couples. One had apparently been married for a long, unhappy time. The other couple was newly wed.

The husband and wife in the long-term marriage were obviously not enjoying each other’s company that night, and we suspected that they had not had any nights out for a long time. They sat through their entire meal without saying a single word to one another—seriously, not even to ask, “How’s the steak?” The two made no eye contact with each other that we could detect. They might as well have just blended up their meal and drank it for all the joy that they were getting out of the experience. It was almost painful to watch them.

Janie and I guessed that long ago this husband and wife had established some marital rules, but that they had then proceeded to break those rules so many times that all they had left between them was disappointment. They probably should have divorced a long time ago, but neither of them went to the trouble of going to a lawyer to put an official end to their years of misery. Perhaps they were sticking it out for the sake of their children. From all the signals they put out, it was apparent that they didn’t have a marriage—they had a standoff.

The man and woman in the other couple were no doubt in their first year of marriage. Their rings were bright and shiny. They talked nonstop and their laughing and leg-slapping even interrupted Janie and I as we tried to talk. It seemed to the husband that everything his bride said was hilarious. He said in a loud voice, “You really ought to go into stand up comedy!” He was so happy that he was almost crying.

To the woman, it seemed that everything her groom said was incredibly wise. She was actually taking notes on her napkin! She kept saying, “I’ve never thought of it that way.” They maintained strong eye contact—when the waiter brought their food, they didn’t even look at him. They just said thanks and kept gabbing on.

These two couples are living proof of the fact that relationships are always headed in one direction or another. Couples, whether they are dating or married, are either going toward a place of healing or are fragmenting apart. They are never marching in place.

Jesus said that we are either for Him or against Him—there is no middle ground.4 In the same way, our actions will either help or hurt our marriage. There is no Oh, that didn’t matter.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.