Winning Ways -- Hillcrest Baptist Church

Stay!
by Tom Goodman
October 15, 2008

Together @ 10
Watch the promotional video on our website.

I love the story Jodi Detrick told in Focus on the Family a few years ago. She had just put the teakettle on and settled in to watch a Boston Pops concert on public TV with her 11-year-old daughter, Jana. Her husband, Don, lounged in the recliner across the room with a book in hand.

"Anne Murray was the guest soloist with the orchestra," she recalled, "and I reminisced as she sang songs popular in my youth." When Murray began to sing "Can I Have This Dance for the Rest of My Life?" her eyes met Don's, and they smiled. Spontaneously, she rose from the couch and, with a comic bow said, "Would you care to dance, Sir?" Don played along and came to meet her in the middle of the living room.

"We giggled as we tried to assume a waltzing position and swayed to the music," she wrote. "I began to laugh as we stepped in a pattern that would cause Fred Astaire to roll over in his grave -- gracefully, of course." Jana watch quietly from her chair as her parents continued their clumsy dance.

Suddenly, the teakettle began to whistle over the music, and Jodi breathlessly turned away from Don to go to the kitchen.

"No... stay!" insisted Jana. Her arm went up "like a traffic cop halting an oncoming truck," and she hurried to the kitchen to tend to the kettle while her parents swayed and stumbled through the rest of the song.

Reflecting on that moment, Detrick wrote,

I understood. "No, stay!" was a plea to us. It really meant, "Please stay in love... stay committed to each other and to our home... keep laughing together... stay partners even when you step on each other's toes in the crazy dance of marriage." It meant, "No, don't let the busyness of your lives, the whistling of other teakettles, pleasure in other places, separate your embrace.... No, don't be too tired and too preoccupied to hear the music of young love... Keep lighting up when you look into each other's eyes across a room.

Just... stay.

This Sunday we begin a study on "staying." The marriage enrichment series is called "Pulling Together When You're Pulled Apart." Join us at our combined 10am service this Sunday, October 19!

--Tom

Weblog: Check out "Get Anchored." Every Sunday I post a new "Song of the Week." Tuesday I post some entertaining and informative "Links to Your World." Also, this week, give some thought to "Three Things That Pro-Life Obama Supporters Must Do."

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Winning Ways - from Hillcrest Baptist Church, Austin, Texas	Contact Tom Goodman, Pastor
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Stay! by Tom Goodman October 15, 2008 Together @ 10 Watch the promotional video on our website. I love the story Jodi Detrick told in Focus on the Family a few years ago. She had just put the teakettle on and settled in to watch a Boston Pops concert on public TV with her 11-year-old daughter, Jana. Her husband, Don, lounged in the recliner across the room with a book in hand. "Anne Murray was the guest soloist with the orchestra," she recalled, "and I reminisced as she sang songs popular in my youth." When Murray began to sing "Can I Have This Dance for the Rest of My Life?" her eyes met Don's, and they smiled. Spontaneously, she rose from the couch and, with a comic bow said, "Would you care to dance, Sir?" Don played along and came to meet her in the middle of the living room. "We giggled as we tried to assume a waltzing position and swayed to the music," she wrote. "I began to laugh as we stepped in a pattern that would cause Fred Astaire to roll over in his grave -- gracefully, of course." Jana watch quietly from her chair as her parents continued their clumsy dance. Suddenly, the teakettle began to whistle over the music, and Jodi breathlessly turned away from Don to go to the kitchen. "No... stay!" insisted Jana. Her arm went up "like a traffic cop halting an oncoming truck," and she hurried to the kitchen to tend to the kettle while her parents swayed and stumbled through the rest of the song. Reflecting on that moment, Detrick wrote, I understood. "No, stay!" was a plea to us. It really meant, "Please stay in love... stay committed to each other and to our home... keep laughing together... stay partners even when you step on each other's toes in the crazy dance of marriage." It meant, "No, don't let the busyness of your lives, the whistling of other teakettles, pleasure in other places, separate your embrace.... No, don't be too tired and too preoccupied to hear the music of young love... Keep lighting up when you look into each other's eyes across a room. Just... stay. This Sunday we begin a study on "staying." The marriage enrichment series is called "Pulling Together When You're Pulled Apart." Join us at our combined 10am service this Sunday, October 19! --Tom Weblog: Check out "Get Anchored." Every Sunday I post a new "Song of the Week." Tuesday I post some entertaining and informative "Links to Your World." Also, this week, give some thought to "Three Things That Pro-Life Obama Supporters Must Do." Do you know friends who would appreciate Winning Ways? Just forward this e-mail to them! Have you subscribed to Winning Ways? You can subscribe by clicking here and following the instructions. Your e-mail address will not be sold or given away to anyone, and you can automatically change your subscription or drop it by following the easy steps provided with each e-mail. FRESH NEWS AT HILLCREST UPDATED WEEKLY: www.HillcrestAustin.org LISTEN TO RECENT SERMONS: Click here MANAGE YOUR SUBSCRIPTIONS TO OUR EMAIL NEWSLETTERS: Click here. If you do not have access to the web, please send a note to newsmaster@hbcaustin.org to tell us of any changes you would like to make.