Nancy and Jill over on our Facebook page pointed out an interesting idea the other day. They both agreed that our Milk and Cookies Mug (pictured below) which, when working with a Facebook ad rep, I decided to advertise for Valentines Day on sale was both “NOT a loving message” and “kind of creepy”.
I can see both of their points. I posted on the Facebook page a link to my previous blog entry about the purpose of mugs and started to explain my take on relationships. This is probably not such a great thing, a permanently single guy handing out advice to all those bound in true love, but you know me, I’ll take a shot at it anyway. So here goes: (and this doesn’t have to be exclusive to loving partnerships, so maybe I do have a chance of having some meaningful insight.)
Relationships built on foundations of trust and honesty are those built to last the test of both time a struggle. I know, cute, quaint words that roll off the keyboard with amazing speed and rhetorical meaning. “Every one does that”, You say. I propose not. Site: about 40 to 50% of all marriages fail.
So, back to the mug. It’s cute. You gotta give me that. In every relationship all parties have FELT this way. The difference between feeling and doing is vast. So this mug can be that starter for your communication. Or any of our other mugs, for that matter. Consider them you mugmunication starers.
If we learn to talk about how we really feel, honestly, then we start to get somewhere with our partners. In business or at home if we are able to tell people “This is how I feel. It is not how I am going to act, but just how I am feeling”.
I do this with my God. I tell Him how I feel all the time. Sometimes I feel great like He is parting the waters in front of me. Sometimes I feel lost and I’m seeking His light and guidance in the darkness. Sometimes I’m mad at Him because I think my plan is better than His. (I’ll give you a clue on that one, my plan is always bound to fail.) But I tell Him, because it’s honest and true. If I really want a relationship with Him then I have to trust that His shoulders are big enough to bear my burdens. Here is the tricky part: If I really want a relationship my shoulders have to be big enough to follow Him.
So, I’ll end with this: While God’s head is definitely too big to hold under a glass of milk, I did nail His only Son to a cross and turn my head while He died for my sins. And there’s nothing NOT loving or creepy about that.
Thank you for your comments Jill and Nancy. Keep ’em coming!