Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
“Love is…not quick to take offense…love keeps no score of wrongs…there is nothing love cannot face; there is no limit to its faith, its hope and endurance” (1 Corinthians 13:4-7)
It was our anniversary. Thirty-seven years! We decided to drive to the resort where we had spent our honeymoon. It was only an hour away and I was delighted to be able to spend an entire day with Marvin, just the two of us.
However my delight and excitement soon turned into disappointment. The night before our special day we had gone for dinner with some friends and I hurt him. During our conversation I interjected with a, “Why don’t you…?”
My husband immediately grew quiet and a wall sprang up between us. You know how quickly those situations can arise. One unseemly remark, one casual interjection and the normal flow of love between us came to a standstill. And even though we prayed together before we went to sleep, the wall was still there the next morning.
And it was raining. We decided not to drive to the resort. The place was surrounded by mountains and was beautiful when the weather was sunny, but depressing when it rained. We didn’t go.
Then the phone rang. It was an hour-long call. Breakfast had to wait.
As I took wrapping paper to the storage room downstairs, I noticed the carpet was soaking wet. When I looked up I saw water dripping from the ceiling.
So now, not only was our relationship strained, our excursion to our honeymoon location spoiled by rain, but we also had a major plumbing problem.
We spent most of the day trying to fix the problem. We couldn’t fix it. We had to call a plumber.
There was no romantic dinner (we had leftovers). No reminiscing about our 37 wonderful years together, only polite conversation.
We all have days like that. The longer a couple is married and the trust relationship grows and the more vulnerable you become with each other, the deeper the pain when the relationship is strained.
How quickly we forget the ninety-five percent of the wonderful and satisfying life together. So swiftly our thoughts fix themselves on the five percent that need improvement.
But during these times, God allows us to see ourselves and see how much we still have to learn about sacrificial love.
Father, thank You for all the blessings You shower upon us. Thank You for our spouse. Help us to focus on what is wonderful and satisfying and dismiss the “not so good” stuff. Amen.
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