Being a Man

A final post on Mark Driscoll's message from ReFocus Canada...

I feel like my wife has been waiting for this for a long time but I was too much of a chicken and it felt too "forced" for me. If you know me at all, you'll know that I don't like to do things just because they are expected of me (and yet I'm a huge people pleaser - I know, it seems like a contradiction). So, when someone gave us a book called "Nightlight" or something like that - a book of couple's devotions to do together at night - I balked. Sure we tried it but I didn't really like it. I didn't like the questions - they seemed geared more towards the woman (you know, "how do you feel about...?" type questions. I hate those!!) - and it felt really artificial. It didn't take long until we were doing nothing as far as devotions together.
Mark really challenged me about my role in the home. I need to step up! And so I have been. We don't do devotions every night together because we aren't always home or going to bed at the same time (I'm too wired after youth to go to sleep!). And we aren't doing much - just following a calendar that has a verse (from the King James, no less!), a short meditation and a stanza from a poem or hymn and then we take turns praying. It's not that hard!!
It doesn't feel like a huge deal right now. There were no beams of light from heaven or anything like that but I think it's really good for a number of reasons: 1) I'm stepping up to take the lead in the spiritual life of my family. 2) It allows my wife to see a small insight into my spiritual and emotional side. 3) It a time to connect with my wife - we're so busy that we don't have many other times: We only eat dinner together on Thursdays, most Fridays and Saturdays and most Sunday lunches. I also think that over time we will grow closer than we already are. The spiritual intimacy levels will be raised and will benefit the other areas of intimacy as well (emotional and physical).