My oldest daughter just returned from France. She was part of a

Language Exchange program. She brought back the Eiffel Tower, on a

Keychain.

There are only two ways to make an Eiffel Tower Keychain

1) Find a very large Keychain

2) Make a very small Eiffel Tower.

My daughter went with option # 2.

It’s a cool Keychain and a sweet gift but at that size it should be called an

Eiffel Miniature not an Eiffel Tower.

Big things lose something when

you put them on a Keychain.

Love is a Big Thing, a really Big Thing.

It doesn’t really fit on a keychain.

It doesn’t belong there.

What kind of love are you carrying?

If the love in your life is not constraining you from false comforts

and harmful habits, it’s probably Keychain Love

If your love is not compelling you into places that are uncomfortable,

inconvenient and costly, it may be Keychain Love.

If you are not moving out of selfish behavior and into serving

behavior, it could be Keychain Love.

If you are avoiding hard truths to keep everyone happy, to keep the

peace, even a “false peace”, it might be Keychain Love

If you spend more time confronting than confessing

If you would rather win the argument than the relationship

If you think that Point of all discussions, is to make your Point

If you have built a reputation with your abilities

while hiding and denying your vulnerabilities

You might have drifted into Keychain Love.

I John 4:8 tells us that God is Love and you will not find Him at the

end of a Keychain.

Are we letting God grow our hearts bigger?

Are we praying for more love or are we shrinking our relationships to

Keychain Size?

Our daughters want and need more than a “souvenir relationship” with us.

Let’s break out the Big Love,

the Bold Love,

the Crazy Good Love.

The kind that will never fit

on the end of a Keychain!

Grace & Peace,

Dr. don Worcester

Not long ago I had a high school girl tell me how much she missed the dates that she and her dad used to go on when she was little. Life had gotten busy and hectic and dad probably thought she wasn’t interested anymore now that she was 18 and had her own boyfriend. Not true!

Dads – I challenge you to take time in the next month to go on a purposeful date with your daughter. Plan a meal out for the 2 of you and while you are waiting for your order have fun with some questions for each other. You can use the lists below or come up with your own.  I had a dad tell me recently that he did this with his daughter and they both loved it.    Simple – you can even just print this list and bring it to dinner 🙂

10 ?’s for dad to ask daughter:

1) If you could do anything in one day – what would your day look like?

2) What is one thing I should know about you that maybe I don’t?

3) What has been the best day of your life so far and why?

4) What is one thing you wish I did with you more often and why?

5) How do you think we are similar?

6) How do you think we are different?

7) What is one thing you wish I didn’t do?

8) What do you want to be when you grow up and why?

9) How can I be a better dad to you?

10) What is your favorite movie and why?

10 Questions for daughter to ask dad:

1) When you were young what did you want to be when you grew up?

2) What was the hardest thing for you when you were my age?

3) What is your favorite movie of all time and why?

4) What is your favorite memory of growing up?

5) How were things different when you grew up?

6) What do you think is the most important thing a parent can teach a child?

7) How do you think we’re similar?

8) How do you think we’re different?

9) What made you fall in love with mom?

10) What do you like about your job?

Have fun with these and hopefully this can be a springboard for many conversations to come 🙂

Kristy

PS – we have a book of fun challenges like this one in a handbook called “30 Day Challenge” you can find in the store.

Differences create tension.

Tension is uncomfortable.

Ignoring or erasing the differences will

Reduce the tension and restore the

Comfort.

This process will create greater Ease.

Ease is desirable and attainable.

If we eliminate differences

It will be Easy!

But will it be Good?

Will it be amazing and great?

Will it be ripe with life giving energy?

Probably not,

But it will be Easy and Comfortable.

So…. What if we don’t ignore, erase or eliminate the differences?

What if we decide to recognize and

Welcome the differences?

What if we saw the differences as

challenging not threatening?

What if we cared more about the 

      Capacity we could have together,                 

       than the comfort we could have 

        apart?

What if we decide to live with the tension rather than eliminate it?

To live with Tension requires Intentional living.

This is harder and better living.

Our lives do not get better, richer or fuller because we eliminate differences. They get better when we Integrate differences. 

Only something more powerful and compelling than our individual differences can bind us and blend us into more than ourselves.

Personal happiness is a natural by product of a great marriage but it’s a lousy compass for daily living. The Road to ” Happily Ever After” travels through some wild and wooly terrain.

Traveling with differences means we will learn to:

Set a common direction,

Recover from disappointments,

Stay courageous and hopeful through rough seasons,

Cultivate joy and purpose in our daily routines and rhythm

Stay connected through conflict

Give fresh starts to one another in our life together.

The road to “Happily Ever After” has bumps, twists and turns.

There may be some sections with little service.

You may encounter severe weather.

The road itself may become difficult to find and follow in certain sections.

There may be encounters with locals who are hostile to your presence.

Your vehicle will likely experience some damage along the way,

you will need to make repairs and get back on the road.

Some days you will cruise along with little effort

other days you will crawl and creep forward expending all the energy you have.

Why travel such a road?….because of the destination.

Dads and husbands are invited into the Ultimate Road Trip.

Our daughters are on this journey with us.

They are learning about life and faith and love by watching us

and by being with us.

They are learning what does and doesn’t matter in their life and in their relationships.

They are learning how to give and receive love.

They are learning how to stay the course and how to put their trust in the One who calls them,

because He is trustworthy.

All of this will lead them to a great destination.

Sometimes a hard roads lead to a beautiful place.

If you do not believe in the beauty of the destination, 

you may just look for a beautiful road.

A Beautiful destination is the real reward of any good journey.

So let’s top off the tank,

roll down the windows

and turn up the music;

it’s a great day

for a Road Trip.

Grace and Peace,

Dr. Don Worcester

A full moon is often beautiful and brilliant in the night sky. Moonlight has made it into our songs, our stories and into our imaginations.

The moon appears “self-luminous” but we know it is borrowed light that makes it shine. The Moon appears bright because the sun is very, very, very bright.

Borrowed light is still light. An object that poorly reflects something blazing and brilliant is still casting light in a dark night sky.

I need no apology from the moon.

It is the brightest light in the evening sky. It is limited, not defective. It generates no light of it’s own, it is a reminder in the dark, that the True Light is still shining, that the dawn is coming.

Moonlight is a deposit, a down payment towards a brighter day that has not yet arrived; it’s a promise in the night that the dawn is coming.

The light from the moon waxes and wanes over the days and weeks of its lunar calendar. The moon is on it’s own journey, it is not a fixture but an object in motion. We only see part of the moon part of the time. The fullest and brightest moon on the clearest night is still not fully illuminated; there is still a dark side.

The moon is a lesser light that reflects a greater one. All of creation is a poor reflection of a magnificent Creator.

When the Creator and the creation are fully reconciled, the lesser things will fall away. The scaffolding is no longer needed once the Cathedral is finished.

The lesser things will fall away at the arrival of the One and Only. The sun, moon and stars will be released, their mission fulfilled, marriage will be released as the wedding feast of the Lamb begins, time and pain and tears will all evaporate as the Eternal, Good and Beautiful King welcomed us by name into His Kingdom and Reign.

This is not a fairy tale or fabricated happy ending. This is not a Cosmic, Mystical hug generated from a vague sense of well-being and well wishes.

This is a Coronation Celebration, with all of creation on its knee’s confessing and welcoming the return of the King.

Great dad’s also live and love from borrowed light. No apology for not being the source. We can still be bright lights in a dark sky. Most of us have a dark side, we are prone to wax and wane. Some nights we shine full and bright, some nights we can reflect only a sliver of light.

Our imperfect and inconsistent love is a reminder in the dark that a greater love is coming. It’s the job we have been given as dads. Let’s stay the course. There really is a Man in the Moon. He’s a dad with a daughter.

Shine on!

Grace and Peace,

Dr. Don Worcester