We had a great time at the recent POCC couples’ retreat. As we sat, waiting for everyone to arrive, the men’s thoughts were probably something like this. “Hope there’s not a bunch of touchy-feely stuff.” Or maybe… nothing much at all.
The women’s thoughts went a bit like this. “I wonder how this is going to go. I hope my husband isn’t too uncomfortable. Peggy Sue’s Joe doesn’t seem too twitchy. I’m so glad they could come. Wonder who’s taking care of their kids. Hope our kids are being good for Mom. Mom would love this place. It's so beautiful. I think I want to try that window treatment from the cottage in our bedroom…” And so on and so on.
Pastor Mark Gungor, in a wonderfully funny video we watched that weekend explained all. Men’s brains are structured like a bunch of small boxes, that keep everything totally separate and in place. They focus clearly and deeply on one thing at a time. And they even have a nothing box – a box where they can think about absolutely nothing. Doesn’t that sound restful, ladies?
Women, on the other hand, have brains made like a ball of wire. Everything touches everything and makes some kind of connection. Everything relates to everything else, so multi-tasking is frankly the default mode for women. Doesn’t that sound efficient, guys?
And perhaps one of the most stunning thoughts is that God created us that way – on purpose! What we can sometimes see as an aggravating difference is God’s design for us. God showed us alot that weekend. But boxes and balls of wire were most unexpected and perhaps most important.
