Song of the Month-
Thinking Out Loud: Ed Sheeran
Note to Reader:
If these lines don’t work…Just try Forest Gumping it.
“I may not be a smart man Jenny, But I know what LOVE is.”
Three pick up lines every Church Planting Husband needs to use on his wife.
- I See you.
- I hear you.
- I understand.
First practice them like a mantra. Say them as you fall asleep, while you’re driving alone, or shaving in front of the mirror. Then use them on her, and wait. It doesn’t really matter when you start to use them, just to do it. Preferably before you’re neck high in hot water. But I believe these lines work even then.
Men, these three handy lines are the female equivalent to us wives walking up to you, (As I’ve learn to do in my wiser, more manipulative? years.) and commenting on your incredible muscles. It doesn’t matter if you no longer have one, drop, of muscle under your Star Wars T-shirt. If we think you’re amazing…well then…it must be true, right?
So it is with the magic of these three lines said to us.
I see you. I hear you. I understand.
I remember when Peyton used these lines on me for the first time. Whatever I had been REALLY upset about was lost in my complete and total hysteria. When I finally pulled it together and ceased snorting herbal tea out my nose, I could see he was actually being sincere. And he won me.
You see we had just finished watching one of our favorite shows where the lead character used them on his wife of 30+ years. The couple had gone through some very rocky times where they really didn’t think they were going to make it. The wife didn’t know if it was worth it anymore. She was in her 60s, the kids were grown, and the pain she had been through throughout the years seemed to have buried the woman she once was. Her bags were packed. She was ready to run away to Paris and paint the rest of her life away! (This is called T.V.Land temptation) Through a turn of events that only prime time T.V. can accomplish in sixty minutes, the couple managed to work through things and head into their “Golden” years together.
How did they do it? How did they navigate through one of the toughest times in their lives?
Well, the husband got some wise counsel to say two of these three lines to his wife.
1. I see you.
2. I hear you.
Boom! He was a man of few words and these few words demonstrated to his wife the one thing she needed to know.
Translation of these lines to the wife?
1. You’re important.
2. I won’t do this thing we call life without you anymore.
The third line every church planting husband needs to remember is just a summary of the first two.
3. I understand
Translation to the wife?
You’re not crazy for feeling this way. I actually meant it when I said I’d treat you like Christ treats his bride.
And Ladies? Your hubbies love you. Really they do. They’re just working on memorizing their lines.
For the second time in the last six months I’ve come back from a meeting with church planters where I was the only woman in the gathering. You know what the guys wanted to talk about once they saw a women Church Planter?
You.
They wanted to talk about you.
Honestly.
They wanted to know how to encourage you as their Church Planting Partner. They asked me what advice I’d have for them. How could they support their wives in their calling?
And it became very evident to me that this is not our parents’ generation of ministry husbands. These are the guys who push strollers, change diapers, let their daughters give them makeovers, and wear the pink and black baby carriers on their chest so they can be as close as a dad can be. They wear skinny jeans, use permanent marker on their body, and do not see earnings as accessories for females only.
No, this generation of Church Planters haven seen their mom’s, sisters and wives have very successful careers and know their talents. They just haven’t seen yet how that all translates into church planting…But they know there is an untapped talent in our churches. You don’t have to be the Sunday School teacher, the pot luck lady, the bible study small group leader, the Sunday morning Evangelist, Preacher or Worship leader. But you do have to be you.
So talk ladies. Not just about your fears and worries, but about your passions as well. What would you’d love to do in the church if the sky was the limit? Talk to your hubbies about what you want. (after you spend some time figuring that out…I have to refigure it out about twice a year!) And by what you want, I don’t mean what you think OTHER people want you to do or not do as a woman in Church planting. Talk about the gifts you have been given according to 1 Corinthians 7-10 and Ephesians 4:11-12.
Talk .
Then wait for those pick up lines…don’t take a sip of anything that might come out your nose though.
And Hubbies go for it.
“I see you. I hear you. I understand…”
Use those pick up lines on your wife. You’ll see they really do pick her up!
Now go Plant a Church!