Mark Sorensen It’s funny. Looking back at my high school and college years, I wasn’t the worst student in school. My grades weren’t horrible, however, they weren’t great either. But something happened to me when I entered into my seminary time (in my mid-to-late 30s); I actually cared about my grades and my GPA. I remember staying up late to study for one of my seminary finals at Asbury Theological Seminary, and my wife just looked at me and asked, “Where was this kid in high school?” I knew exactly what she meant. Who better to make that statement than the lady that actually went to high school with me? That said, I attacked my seminary GPA with a vengeance and graduated with a near-perfect GPA. Note, I said, “near-perfect”. There was one class, though – just one – that ate my lunch (for that matter, it ate all other meals for me that entire semester, as well): the Biblical language class, Hebrew.
Can I start by just stating the obvious? Who in the world thinks that, in a 14-week class, you can actually master the Hebrew language? I actually told my professor, “Look, I have been speaking English for more than four decades and I am pretty certain I still haven’t mastered the English language, yet.” (I laughed. My professor didn’t). When I took my mid-term exam, I didn’t pass, which really frustrated me because I studied for that one like I had never studied before. It sent me into a panic. “What if I don’t make an A in this class!? What if I make a C, a D, or worse, what if I fail!?” So I set an appointment to talk to my professor.
As we talked about the class, my grades and my expectations, he made a pretty incredible observation that has stuck with me through today. He said, “Mark, the class is set up in such a way that, if you do your homework and study for your weekly quizzes, you may not make perfect grades on the exam, but you will pass the class. Here’s the thing. You actually learn more in the classes that are harder, than in those classes that you make the easy A.”
How true is that? You know, the same applies for our relationships.
They may not be easy, but if we work daily on them, inviting God into the midst of them, we grow and learn. And the lessons learned? Invaluable.
This Sunday, I’ll be closing out the Relat(ABLE)2 series with a special guest joining me on the stage: my wife, Nycki Sorensen. We’ll share a little about our own marriage, identify three things that we have found essential to our daily walk together and also answer some questions submitted from you all in regards to relationships.
I can’t wait.
