Session 3 intro-happily ever after

How many of you were like these couples?

Marriage revealed some surprises to you?

In the beginning of the video we had the fairy tale wedding & the little boy said mama are they going to live happily ever after-& then it goes to the couple watching the show

It is clear they were not living out the idea they had envisioned-& maybe that is how you came here this weekend.

Well-lets redeem that idea...

Many of the couples used the phrase HEA-when asked what they expected in marriage.

We chose this name b/c we enter marriage with this expectation.

We even have a sign in our bedroom that says & they lived happily ever after

& even tho the reality of HEA isn’t what any of us thought, it can be a reality even when we experience what

John 16:33 say-In me you may have peace…in this world you WILL troubles… But take heart! I have overcome the world

Not too many weddings start out w/ this scripture, but it is essential to know that when trouble that we didn’t expect to arise happens, that HEA is possible when John 16:33 is at the core of our beliefs.

In your books (page 18) We asked you if you view HEA as a destination or a journey.

I know that I viewed it as a destination that I arrived at when the preacher said you may now kiss your bride

So when we were planning our wedding & honeymoon, I wanted it to be perfect, I planned for them

I called triple A & they sent me the map w/ detailed instructions on how to get to our honeymoon destination-Niagara falls

W/o this map we would have been lost-we didn’t have smartphones/gps

Not too far into our voyage, somewhere in Illinois we started noticing signs that did not line up w/ the towns we should be entering

We realized that we had taken a wrong turn & we had to find our way back to the best route

It cost us a couple hours, but thankfully we had our triple A map to guide us back.

This map was our True North (TN)

True North is your fixed point in an unstable world

It is the thing that is established, it cannot move & you can reference your entire life upon.

TN Story

As crazy as it sounds that someone thought they got to choose which direction North is

We can be the same way…

We didn’t start out w/ Christ est. as our TN

While I planned all the details of our wedding & honeymoon, we didn’t make any plans for our marriage-b/c we thought that was a given…

we had arrived at Destination HEA.

Our hope is that each couple here walked in w/ God has their TN or you will est. Him as that this weekend

As we watch these videos, you are going to watch couples go through troubles, & not one of them expected to face these troubles.

like me, they expected HEA.

You may be sitting in your seat this morning & experiencing the polar opposite of what you thought marriage was going to be

our prayer has been for you to have peace & take heart b/c God has overcome the world.

Watch for the time that these couples either established Christ as their TN or how they allowed Him as the already est. TN to guide them through really difficult situations.

W/o the creator of North being their TN they would have been trying to decide which way was North based on whatever direction they were facing.