A God-thermometer?

Do you ever read stuff that leaps out at you as something you've got to use in one of your novels some day?

Gary Thomas, in his book called Sacred Marriage, provides plenty of material for a Christian romance writer to incorporate in his/her stories, not to mention how valuable his teachings are to our very own real-life marriages.

But, in my reading today...pop...one wonderful phrase had me automatically thinking of a scene in one of my novels that could really use this particular concept he presented.

Our spouse can act as our God-thermometer.

Thomas's theory is that when Christians are distanced from God they tend to not love their spouse as fully as they ought to. It's in these "shriveling faith patches" (that's my words, not Gary Thomas's) that our relationship with our spouse tend to deteriorate.

Makes total sense to me, as God and His Son, are the only true examples of unconditional love. So the further we digress from Their truth, the more difficult it will be for us to love unconditionally and abundantly.

Thomas goes on to say that because of this correlation, we can really think of our spouse as our God-thermometer. When the marriage gets a little chilly, it's one indicator that some evaluation of our faith journey is in order. What an awesome way to sanctify your marriage--look at it as a God-thermometer!

It's just like one of my critique partners God-incidence scene that struck me as so memorable. Such a simple, quaint phrase, but it holds a whole lot of meaning.

A God-thermometer--What scenes do you envision coming out of that phrase in your Christian romance? Doesn't it even make you think of the needed rise and fall of conflict within your work? What a creative measurement to use!

Blessings,

Eileen