A heat sink is a technical term for a portion of a machine that is crucial to managing / regulating the buildup of heat. This heat is waste energy that's necessitated relative to the machine's creation of movement or light or any number of good things. Were it not for the existence of the heat sink, this waste energy (in the form of heat) would almost immediately destroy the machine itself by overheating. Therefore, components would melt down, motors would seize, and everything would go to shit very, very quickly.
Engineered heat sinks are typically bulky and not at all very aesthetically pleasing, therefore they have to be discreetly positioned within the device in order to not draw unnecessary attention away from the whole. When they're doing their job well, the machine can run at maximum efficiency, performing remarkable work whilst being protected from the inevitable but deadly waste heat.
That being said, Earth's oceans are a God-designed heat sink. They do their job by absorbing radiant heat from sunlight throughout the day whilst slowly radiating that absorbed heat energy into the atmosphere during the evening. This oceanic heat absorption / release cycle is paramount to regulating Earth's weather patterns whilst also allowing our planet to benefit so fully from unencumbered sunlight as it spins away on its axis.
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Not long after Angie and I were married (27.5 years ago), we agreed to participate within an evangelism education program at First Baptist Church Jackson (where we were church members). The 8–12-week program met on a weekday night, and after sharing a meal / listening to the evening's evangelism training lesson, teams of three set out into the city of Jackson to evangelize. Because our church was as large as it was, there was usually a plethora of recent church visitors who were our first targets.
I distinctly remember my team visiting a soon to be divorced young wife and her two children. She was beautiful yet obviously very stressed, sitting there perched on the edge of the stylishly upholstered couch cushion within her family's sizable northeast Jackson home. Everything about her telegraphed the stress of her still new reality. It was unmistakable and very unsettling to observe. From the way her eyes darted around her living room to how she nervously reigned in her restless (& soon to be somewhat fatherless) elementary-age children. It was as if she had been a victim of such the unexpected trauma (which she had), and as a result, everything looking ahead had a deep-seated brokenness framing it.
I came away horrified at how powerless I was to this woman's woundedness, having never in a million years expecting to be faced with such the despairing situation during a routine church follow-up. I cannot stress enough the awkwardness between our evangelism team (of three) and this smoldering heap of hopelessness of a human being, during those few minutes. For it was literally off the charts.
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I first befriended my wife when we were in high school. She was an overweight, overly dolled up (cosmetics) porcelain doll of a girl with enough black head hair to easily manufacture three wigs with. Angie was terribly shy yet so very intelligent / articulate (when she would actually speak). Whenever I found myself with her (which wasn't very often), I always attempted to make her as comfortable as I possibly could. And usually, that involved me attempting to inject humor into both the situation we found ourselves within along with the dialogue.
Angie was naive but only because of her upbringing. Her parents were much older (20+ years) than most girls her age, and overall, they were prudish to a fault.
Eventually, she broke free of most everything I've described here (related to her childhood) by attending college far enough from Jackson, Mississippi that she was essentially given the opportunity to reset her entire existence.
Nonetheless, one absolute treasure that came about, in spite of her stifled upbringing, was the emotional counterbalance she naturally developed with her father. For were it not for that, she and I would not be married today.
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"I can no longer trust him with my feelings."
This mantra is often repeated like a drumbeat within the minds of scorned wives / girlfriends. For no matter what her man did to warrant this statement, once it's concretized within her mind, it's often a point of no return.
So, what does that statement actually mean? Never - under any circumstances - would a husband / boyfriend be inclined to say this about his woman.
"I can no longer trust her with my feelings."
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Women crave security from their man just as men crave respect from their woman. And that security extends to providing her with a means to contextualize / organize / engage with the vernacular of her (specific) real-time emotions. And he doesn't have to be physically present for this to occur. Not at all. But he must be emotionally compatible therein and have made (some sort of) a commitment to that compatibility being used to her / their benefit.
On the flipside of that process, most men (husbands / boyfriends) naturally reciprocate / counterbalance this "heat sink" role via sexual intercourse.
In essence, the notion is that once he's reached a certain emotional capacity, he uses that reserve to perform sexually. Therein naturally releasing that excess via coitus before the process starts all over again.
This is why so many marriages fail as a result of adultery, if you follow this logic. For it signifies that the husband has found someone else who's just as (if not moreso) compatible as the wife once was. As a result, the marriage appears to be an outdated one (not unlike a high mileage machine).
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In closing, this compatibility truly is something special when it's discovered. And, oh my goodness, does it drive women crazy when it's first set in motion (dating). Hence, the reason fornication is so prevalent (easy for guys to seduce towards) early into a relationship. For these ladies are experiencing an incredibly optimized state of being during those initial romantic days. It truly is being fully alive for them whilst radically buttressing their man's ego throughout.
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When Angie was in the rehabilitation hospital in Jackson, post stroke (2020), I was so thankful to be allowed to have dinner with her every day in spite of the COVID-19 visitation restrictions. Whilst looking back, I'm still unsure as to how this accommodation was made for us. Nevertheless, whenever I'd show up after work, there'd be an extra plate of hospital food waiting for me.
Oftentimes, I'd wheel her down to floor three, and we'd enjoy our dinner out-of-doors on the covered patio overlooking the adjacent (under construction) children's hospital wing there at University Medical Center. She'd recount the therapy sessions she'd experienced during her day, and we'd chitchat about the girls / my work. But I could feel her during those moments, so very efficiently, using me for her own emotional good. For there was so much emotional energy within her - both positive and negative - during this trying time.
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In conclusion, if your marriage is healthy, you're very likely married to a woman who had a father who demonstrated a proper compatible male / female emotional relationship. From there, she grew to become a woman and eventually found a similar compatibility in you. BE THANKFUL FOR THIS.
The beauty of all this is in how effortless it operates within the relationship. For it's God's beautiful, perfect design.
As such, it should be cherished, protected, regaled.
