Morning Pages Week Two

I shared last week that I am going through the 12-week workbook “The Artist's Way.” As a part of the course, I write three pages in a journal each day. I am sharing a section of my writing each week with you. I would love your feedback on this new approach to my weekly Dispatch.

I used to wake up in the middle of the night and once my mind engaged I would worry. I worried about all kinds of things - kids, work, finances and much more. I still can worry, but not like I used to. 

One of the big problems with my night worry was that it solved absolutely nothing. I never came up with a great solution. The interesting thing is that I cannot remember even one of the things that I worried about! The lost sleep and tossing and turning were all for naught. I remember being fed up with all of this. I decided all this worry was stupid -  plus I was exhausted. 

I began to notice the Scripture verses that talked about worry and that God did not want us to worry because He would take care of us. I think for the first time in my life, I really heard that message. If God could create anything and everything, He certainly could handle my worries. Sure, I can still worry today but redirecting those worries to God comes a lot sooner and easier now. God truly is enough!

Questions For You To Think About:

• What are you worrying about today?

• Is there a step you can take that will solve or resolve the issue?

• Where are you fitting God into your pattern of worry?

• What does it mean to you to think that “God is enough?

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2 Minute Drill

“Bitter or Better”

Quick Hits: 

This Week’s Quote: Jim Caviezel

Jim Caviezel turns 54 this month. He is an American film and television actor who is best known for his portrayal of Jesus in the movie The Passion of the Christ. He is married to former high school English teacher Kerri Browitt. Together they adopted three children from China who had cancer. 

 "I do love scenes—but not ones with gratuitous sex. I also don’t do gratuitous violence. And it's not just about my wife, although that's important. It's sin, pure and simple. I mean, it's wrong.” 

“My faith doesn't go over real well in Hollywood.”

This Week’s Trivia Question

Here’s a combination music and football trivia question for you: 

What Motown singer tried out for the Detroit Lions in 1970?

This Week’s Did You Know?

The longest place name in the world is 85 letters long. 

Taumatawhakatangi­hangakoauauotamatea­turipukakapikimaunga­horonukupokaiwhen­uakitanatahu is in New Zealand. 

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Awesome Marriage This week

AM Podcast: Practical Tips for Blended Families with Special Guests Scott and Vanessa Martindale | Episode 528

Scott and Vanessa Martindale are great friends and the founders of Blended Kingdom Families, a stepfamily ministry that exists “to break the cycle of divorce, equip marriages and unite blended families with the truth of God’s Word.” Join us!

AM YouTube Channel: A Game Plan for Better Sex

In this week’s vlog, I talk with you about a template for your sex life to lay over every season of your marriage.

AM YouVersion Plan: One Foot Out The Door

This five day plan is specifically written for the spouse who finds themselves struggling and with one foot out the door. We will reflect on how the conversations and relationships around us can give life or death to our marriage. 

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This Week’s Trivia Answer:

• Marvin Gaye - He bulked up nearly 30 pounds and trained with future Hall of Fame tight end Charlie Sanders while preparing for his tryout. He didn't make the cut but remained close to several players who sang background vocals on his 1971 hit, "What's Going On."

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Morning Pages Week One

 In 1992, Julia Cameron first published “The Artist’s Way.” Today the book has sold millions of copies. I am reading through the book and doing the 12-week workbook. As a part of the course, I am writing three pages a day by hand. The writing is not planned and is supposed to flow naturally. So far, so good. While I am doing this course, I will share a section of my writing for that week. I have no idea how this will go but I value your feedback. I do know that the writing is honest, vulnerable, and hopefully insightful.

As the 2022/2023 school year began, I looked back at my fifth year of life. I began kindergarten at a neighborhood school without any of my neighborhood friends. My mother said that she had to drag me up the long and tall stairs in front of the school for the first few days of kindergarten. 

I really don't remember much about kindergarten or first grade. First grade was at a different school because we moved over the summer. It’s interesting that I don’t remember teachers, friends or much else about those two years. 

I do remember being on the playground during recess in first grade, walking around the inside of the fence that surrounded the playground to see if there was hole that I could escape through. I don’t have the memories but I have a weird feeling when I think back on my time at those two schools. I don’t think it was the schools, rather that I just did not want to be there. I wanted to be home. 

The following year was another move and I started in a new school where I stayed through sixth grade. I can remember so many details about that school, the teachers and my friends there. My feelings about those years are warm and those five years were a great part of my early life.

Questions For You To Think About:

• What were your first few years of school like? 

• What do you remember? 

• What feelings come up as you reflect? 

• If you could change one thing during those years, what would it be?  

• If your thoughts are positive, thank God. If they are negative, ask God to bring healing into those areas.

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2 Minute Drill

Colby Taylor and I talk about what it means to be “called.”

Quick Hits: 

This Week’s Quote: Tyler Perry

Tyler Perry turns 53 this month. As a Christian, many of the themes in his work reflect theology and social behavior indicative of the predominantly black church culture. Many scenes in both his stage and screen work feature church settings and worship styles commonly found in predominantly African American churches, including showcases of gospel music and artists. Personally, I see so much depth in Tyler - and he makes me laugh!

It doesn't matter if a million people tell you what you can't do, or if ten million tell you no. If you get one yes from God, that's all you need. - Tyler Perry

This Week’s Trivia Question

The likeness of which president is featured on the rare $2 bill of USA currency?

This Week’s Did You Know?

In 1969, when Astronaut Neil Armstrong stepped on the moon,he stepped with his left foot first.

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Awesome Marriage This week

AM Podcast: 5 Tips for Reviving an Lifeless Marriage | Episode 527

Is your marriage everything you hoped it would be? Does it seem dead at times? Did your honeymoon period end too soon? In this week’s podcast Lindsay and I talk about ways to deal with and improve a “dead” marriage.

AM YouTube Channel: How To Still Have a Sex Life in Spite of Distractions

Join me in this vlog as I talk about making your “normal” happen in your marriage

AM YouVersion Plan: Speaking Life Into Your Marriage

Our words are powerful and this truth is confirmed in Scripture. In this 5-day plan by Lindsay Few, we look at simple ways to use the power of your words for good.

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This Week’s Trivia Answer:

• President Thomas Jefferson

*Some links are affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Every dollar made goes directly to the ministry of Awesome Marriage to help couples build awesome marriages. We only promote products we truly recommend.

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This Week’s Quick Hits: 

This Week’s Quotes:

On March 5, 1946 Sir Winston Churchill delivered his famous “Iron Curtain Speech” at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri. Nineteen years later, I was a freshman student at Westminster.  Even though I was only there for one semester, there was something very special about that place and the historic speech given there as Churchill was accompanied by President Harry Truman. In 1969 the American Winston Churchill Museum was opened in Fulton to honor this great man and one of his most famous speeches. 

Here are a few of my favorite Winston Churchill quotations:

• The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.

• Tact is the ability to tell someone to go to hell in such a way that they look forward to the trip.

• Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.

• You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something in your life.

• History will be kind to me for I intend to write it.

5 Random Trivia Questions:

1. How many seconds it takes for food to reach your stomach?

2. Which farmyard animal is the most intelligent?

3. On accepting his Oscar, who said, “Wow! If I’d known that, I’d have put that patch on 35 years earlier’?

4. When was the first email sent?

5. Fill in the blank: You can make a nail ____ inches long, using all the iron in your body. 

Bonus Random Trivia Question:

• What does HTTP stand for?

“Crazy Cool Family” Dr. Kim with Dan and Suzanne Manning

Awesome Marriage This Week: 

AM Podcast: Are You Getting Bitter or Better? | Episode 526

Life will let all of us down at some point. The people we love most will inevitably let us down. We’re all only human, and life doesn’t always go exactly the way we plan. But we have a choice in how we respond when hard and hurtful things happen: We either get bitter, or we get better. This week Lindsay and I are talking about healing from hurts and growing from them.

AM YouTube Channel: How Often Is “Normal” For Married Sex?

Is there a “right” number when it comes to sexual frequency in marriage? How do you know what is normal? How do we even begin to talk about frequency? This is the third episode in a six-part series on sex in marriage.Don’t miss this vlog!

AM YouVersion Plan: One Thing To Grow Your Marriage Each Day

Our “One Thing” email is one of the most popular resources that we have at Awesome Marriage.  In this 30 Day plan, you have the opportunity to experience what our “One Thing” subscribers get every day Monday through Friday. The point of the “One Thing” is to help you be intentional about your marriage every day. This is a great plan to help grow your marriage.

Click here for the plan.

Check out the One Thing email.

Dr. Kim’s Insights:

I Don’t Know, But I Know Who Does 

I recently read a post by one of my favorite authors, Paul David Tripp, where he listed a number of things that he did not know. Things like:

• I don’t know why I do all the things I do.

• I don’t know what tomorrow brings.

• I don’t understand the plan and purpose of God.

As I reflected on this I realized that there is so much that I do not know. Here are a few of mine:

• I don’t know how my brain functions.

• I don’t know when or how God will take me to Heaven.

• I don’t know why my tomato plants are prolific one year and almost barren another.

• I don’t know why God chose me to be a leader when I feel so inadequate.

If I spent a day writing these things down, I don’t think I would even begin to touch on all that I do not know. Which to my point this week. It’s okay that I do not know all the many things I do not know. Not only that, I do not have to know any of these to have a full life. Why? Because God does. God knows everything. Read those three words again. Let them sink in.  

Consider this. Since God knows everything, not only do I not have to but I also don’t have to pretend that I do. I am not as wise or smart as God is and I never will be. In fact, I don’t want that knowledge or the responsibility that comes with it. For me, knowing the One who literally knows everything is much more than enough. I can rest assured that He always wants the best for me and will teach me everything that I need to know to live the life He created me to live! 

What about you? When you think of all the things that you do not know, can you find peace in the fact that God does? How does that affect the way you live your life day to day?

Next Steps:

• Make a list of some of the things you do not know?

• What does it mean to you and the way you live your life that God knows everything?

• What is your first step today in embracing that truth?

Random Trivia Answers:

1. Seven Seconds

2. The pig

3. John Wayne

4. 1971

5. Three inches

Bonus Chicken Question:

• Hyper Text Transfer Protocol