This Week’s Quick Hits:
April Facts:
Originally April only had 29 days, but a 30th day was added when Julius Caesar established the Julian calendar.
April is a great month for meteor showers, one of which is the Lyrids meteor shower, which appears from April 16th to April 26th each year. Another is the Eta Aquariids, which can be seen onwards from April 21st.
There are quite a few notable historical people born in April, such as Leonardo da Vinci, Shakespeare, and Queen Elizabeth II.
On April 15, 1912, the famous Titanic ship hit an iceberg and sank on her first and only voyage.
George Washington was inaugurated as the First President of the United States on April 30, 1789.
On April 11, 1970, Apollo 13 was launched and ran into difficulties about two days later. It was then that the famous line, “Houston, we’ve had a problem here,” was said. (Today it is usually misquoted).
Two Tough April Trivia Questions For You:
In April 1972, what famous actor returned to the United States?
Apple released the first iPad on April 3rd of what year?
Speaking the Truth
Listen:
“Avoid These Common Parenting Pitfalls”
If you’re a parent, you may have experienced how tempting it can be to get lost in your season of parenting. Join Lindsay and me as we identify these common pitfalls and offer some solutions that will make a difference for you and your marriage.
Watch:
Picture this scenario: There is an issue in your marriage that you know is significant to you and your spouse. You know the best course of action is to set aside time to discuss it with your spouse, but things have been going so well lately that you just do not want to rock the boat. Then things stop “going well” and you find you are fighting over the very issue you put off discussing. Now it’s a hot topic. Instead of talking about it rationally, the gloves are off. If only you had followed through before! Does this sound familiar? I honestly think most of us have been there. What keeps us from dealing with issues that we need to deal with? How do we get through these obstacles? Join me is this week's vlog as we look at this all too common issue.
Streaming:
I reviewed the fascinating book Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup in a 2020 Dispatch. The true story of Elizabeth Holmes' rise and fall from Stanford University dropout to the world’s youngest self-made female billionaire to losing it all in an instant is captivating. Around 2015, Elizabeth was the darling of Silicon Valley. Her blood testing company, Theranos, had been valued at $9 billion. Then it all came crashing down when it was revealed that Theranos’ blood testing machines never worked. The Dropout is an 8 episode series on Hulu. Common Sense Media rates it as appropriate for age 14+.
Insights:
In 2015, Zondervan published my first book, “7 Secrets to an Awesome Marriage.” It was a bestseller when it debuted on Amazon and continues to sell well. Today we wrap this series up. I hope it has been helpful and you are working the “secrets” in your marriage!
No Coasting
Let’s compare marriage to a long distance race. The truth is that most of us did not prepare well for the race. We just jumped in, someone said go and we went. We did not train. We did not change our habits or behaviors. We just took off running. So it is not surprising that just a few miles into the race some of us were ready to bail out. Others seemed to be hanging in, but they were really struggling.
It comes down to this: Everyone running the race needs hope. Hope that they can make it the distance. Hope that there are a lot of water stations along the route to refresh and energize them. Hope that their spouse is running side by side with them. Hope that their spouse is in it with them to the end. Hope in the truth that they are not running the race alone - God runs with them.
My prayer for you is that you have an Awesome Marriage. I often say that marriage is not rocket science. The “7 secrets” are not difficult. It is living them out day after day that can be difficult. I encourage you to persevere, because one day you will say it was worth it. One day as you look back you will see how far God brought you.
I wish I could tell you that Nancy and I have always had an Awesome Marriage, but I can’t. We have had some really rough times, and once were at the edge of divorce. In many ways, I am thankful that our marriage took the turns that it did, because otherwise I do not think we would have learned all that God wanted us to learn. Today our marriage is awesome.
Here is your final takeaway: No matter where your marriage is today, God can make it awesome. All you have to do is turn it over to Him and walk faithfully each day in the path He sets before you. Take these 7 secrets and let them become steps that God will use to build a marriage that you both cherish and others look at and say, “What is their secret? They have such an awesome marriage.” Then you can tell them all that God has done.
Next Steps:
Ask God to encourage and guide you as you work with Him to turn the “secrets” into steps.
Answers Trivia:
Charlie Chaplin
2010
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