comments on being married, month ten.
>> Wednesday, August 29, 2012 –
Guest Bloggers,
Marriage
It’s fitting that
Elise let me step in to write about some of the ins and outs of our month
since, as you all know by now, her free time has witnessed a metamorphosis.
That is, it has shrunk.
As a result, she has
outsourced the formulation of this month’s collection of thoughts. Well, not
really. It would take Elise 20 minutes to write what will now take me
embarrassingly longer. She thought it would be good to let me reflect and write
this time around.
Shall we?
-We were reminded a
few weeks ago that there are few enjoyments able to contend with a good day on
the water, with wind to keep the sails flexed.
-Elise’s favorite
place to keep her retainer is on our counter, right next to the stove, just a
few inches from the knife block…which also happens to be my favorite place for
it (!) That is a fake exclamation point.
-My wife still looks
a smidge dorky when she wears aforementioned retainer. Saving grace is it does
happen to be adorable. It’s like pig-tails for her mouth.
-Like every month,
there must be plenty of time spent snuggling. I’m completely serious. It is a
non-negotiable built-in part of the day.
-In the near two
years we have both been living in Durham, we’ve seen the Lord provide true
friendship and bonds that have begun to truly strengthen and deepen. Brothers
and sisters in Christ. We’re grateful for a community that walks with Jesus and
seeks out those who don’t.
-It’s been
interesting to learn more about how best to show Elise what women inherently
treasure: that they are beautiful and they are loved. I’m not the dozen roses
and candlelit dinner type because my wife isn’t that type. This doesn’t mean
she doesn’t love the occasional surprise outing or gift, but the “flash in the
pan” ideas are easy to come by. For Elise, it’s a lot of thoughtfulness. To
listen, to lead with patience, and to look for ways to help. Practicing these
with any level of consistency will be the lifelong work in progress, and it is
hardly a glamorous learning curve!
-It should be noted
that if we stick to our current pace, after having just finished off another
bowl full of it and arugula, Elise and I will have consumed more kale than any
other human pairing has in one calendar month by the time August expires.
-My favorite morning
game is to ask Elise, essentially right when she wakes up, what she dreamt
about. She usually goes off on a minimum 3 minute recap of very detail-laden
stories, and I get to laugh. For a couple weeks we were both having odd vivid
dreams about babies. Not on a nightly basis, but every few days. Truth be told,
I can’t remember whose babies they were or if there were any giant babies
involved. Actually, I would definitely remember if there was a baby giant. My
only interpretation for why we were having these dreams is that most everyone
we know is either with child, wants to be soon, or have already had a child or
two, and that these dreams are manifesting in order to satisfy any similar
states we may eventually think of or want to entertain in the next five + PLUS
+ years.
-Finally, I do have a
request. In short: pray for your neighbor, your friends and relatives, pray for
the lost and broken, the misguided and defenseless. If there is one human trend
we can count on continuing to observe, it is that of our proclivity for evil
and destruction. Wherever you are, there is a struggle of some sort nearby,
regardless of whether or not you can see or hear it. Just being aware of this
is a start. Taking action to serve more than ourselves is progress.
love this! and love hearing thoughts from the hubs, elise. you guys are so fabulous and such a great example of Christ's love and what a marriage should be.
ReplyDeletethanks molly! i love hearing what's on his mind every now and again too!
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