You and Your Spouse



From a Blog by Scott Couchenour (Nazarene)

9-Inch Choices

Here are some of the numbers on the Gulf oil spill:

• More than 46,000 people are involved in the response
• BP has reported spending $3.5 billion already
• Nine million feet of boom have been used
• Dozens of aircraft and more than 6,400 vessels have been deployed
• The US government's high-range estimate is 60,000 barrels per day

Here's the number I find interesting:

• "The drill pipe, from which the oil is rising, is actually a 9-nine pipe that rests within the riser," said Bill Salvin, a BP spokesman

A 9-inch pipe.

9 inches?!  (smaller than a soccer ball)

This kinda illustrates how important our choices are each day.

A small, "9-inch" decision today can set a trajectory that leads to your legacy (good or bad). Here's an example:

You have a pleasant conversation with your secretary. She's not gorgeous, but attractive. While discussing the incoming mail, you begin to talk about your spouse - how she doesn't quite understand your love of golf. Your secretary comes to your defense. She knows what birdies and bogeys are...

NOTE: "You begin to talk about your spouse" - a "9-inch" decision.

One thing leads to another. Soon you find yourself entangled in a web of emotional attachment resulting in a moral failure spewing forth 60,000 barrels of pain per day upon your loved ones and into the gulf of people you are called to serve.

Don't let this happen to you. Don't think it won't happen to you.

Watch each and every "9-inch" decision you make.