sunday’s scuds (may 23, 2010)

If you miss a Sunday, you miss a lot. This Sunday brought us the Marriage Referee, at Diet Dr. Pepper explosion, an unbelievable KidStuf opener complete with dancers and tumblers, and another message by Dwight that made all the people around me go, “Mmm,” several times.

It was part five of a six part series on marriage. And here are the scuds as I see ‘em:

• The problem in your marriage is not your PMS. It’s your heart.
• We’re all like tea bags—you don’t know exactly what’s inside until you put it in hot water.
• Reality will outpace your attempts to pretend like things are okay in your marriage.
• I don’t know of any area of like that has more unrealistic expectations than marriage.
• It’s okay to have desires in your marriage. The danger comes when those desires become expectations.
• In marriage, the things that once fascinated us about our spouses are the same things that end up frustrating us.
• Embrace your spouse’s differences.
• Unresolved issues will move your marriage from harmony to hostility.
• The #1 tool that God will use to grow you into the person he wants you to be is your spouse.
• Marriages don’t create problems—they just reveal them.
• If you’re single, the greatest gift you can give your future spouse is for you to work through your issues.
• You have to be a good forgiver to make it in marriage.
• The person who has the greatest potential to hurt you is the person you’re married to.
• What’s the worst sin in marriage? Unforgiveness—because it holds all the other sins captive.
• Your heart is selfish. It just is.
• The way you change a relationship is not by changing your spouse. You start by changing yourself.
• We all want to be viewed by others as a servant  but none of us want to be treated by others as a servant.
• We’re too concerned about our comfort. God’s concerned about your character.
• We’re too concerned about happiness. God’s concerned about your holiness.
• Show me a marriage that is thriving and I’ll show you two people that are working hard at it.
• Don’t strive for a perfect marriage—there’s no such thing. Strive for a healthy marriage.