Emoji’s Save Lives

This morning I got the kids ready for school, changed Leo’s diaper, loaded everyone in the car, and began to head out the door. But before this execution of Dad excellence took place along with handling business calls and church needs, there was a short fuse between Jordyn and I that I allowed to expire. I was wrong and I definitely owed her an apology. 

I’ll be honest, I am slow to say sorry. But today, I was determined to change that. So I sent her a warm text letting her know that I was sorry and added some additional authenticity to my apology to make sure she truly felt my sincerity. What was her response? “It’s ok.” What!? I was crushed lol. I responded with a gif of Chris Rock making a face that communicated…HUH?! Totally expecting her to send one of Will Smith delivering a crushing slap. But to my surprise, she didn’t. She actually responded, “Haha I love you. I’m sorry, I meant to put a heart after it’s ok. “It’s ok ❤️” Then she said, “Emoji’s save lives.”

What a difference a heart emoji makes with the same phrase. One is inviting, accepting, and brings togetherness. The other without it, still communicates hard feelings and a lack of restoration. 

We live in tough days right now. Your plans mean nothing. Your days change with every notification. One phone call can change your whole existence. Marriages have more tension, more adversity, and more challenges than ever. It’s like the days we live in now seem to magnify all that was swept under the rug during previous years of ease. It appears that frustration is common and tension is the norm. 

In days like these we need to remember the impact of gentleness and be reminded of our purpose together. The purpose of a marriage is to advance God’s rule and reach. I bet you tend to forget about that, or maybe didn’t even know that. In these days of destruction, I also believe marriages need to be active in rebuilding. Rebuilding each other, your love, your passion, your patience, your community, your kids, your friendships, your family relationships, and your devotion to each other. 

Jordyn and I attended an amazing dance recital at the Midland Theater last week. I was blown away by the dedication, talent, and ability of these young dancers. We went on Saturday and again on Sunday. Both performances were different, but a few of the dances were the same. 

On Saturday we sat toward the back in the center. So it was visually impactful seeing the formation movements and you could feel the music in your chest. But on Sunday we were very close to the front and also to the far right. I could see the dancer’s faces when they realized they missed a move or maybe slightly stumbled. The music didn’t hit the same either because it was passing over us. 

Keep in mind, each performance was still beyond amazing. Hardly anyone present could do any of what was being done on stage. But I leaned over to Jordyn and said, the performances seemed so much more impactful in our seats from Saturday that were further back. I honestly expected to have a better experience when I was closer. She replied, “It’s hard to be enchanted by anything once you are close to it.” And that’s where many of us are. We are walking in a miracle of God through marriage and yet the closer we get, the less impressed we can become.

We know each other’s flaws well and focus on that instead of our purpose. We focus on the small errors in the midst of an amazing performance. We focus on not feeling the intensity of yesterday’s passion instead of the new access God has given us. We can grow quickly agitated and even faster at speaking on that agitation. Tony Evans reminds us in his book titled Kingdom Marriage about the importance of our words. 

“Building each other up begins with a mind-set that values the importance of edification in words. Ephesians 4:29 says, “Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear.” In this passage, edification is tied directly to communication.” 

So remember to protect the beauty of edification in the moment. Don’t tear each other down, build each other up. And when you’re able, use emojis. Because emojis save lives. 

- Love Pastor Luke