I don’t particularly love shopping with Michael. I enjoy doing a lot of things with him–but walking around a mall together is not at the top of either one of our lists.
Not that I don’t like going to the mall, or walking with my husband–it’s just that when it comes to being shopping buddies we’re not the best fit.
I’d much rather shop with my daughter who doesn’t mind humming and hawing for 20 minutes over a pair of shoes. We’re both the same way, shopping is like hunting for a particular style. We don’t know what it is that we’re looking for until we find it, and we don’t mind spending an entire afternoon searching.
Walking from store to store, we continue to hunt until our ankles give out.
Michael’s idea of shopping is walking into a store, picking up the same brand of jeans that he always picks up and heading straight to the counter with them. If he’s in a shopping mood, he might take an extra ten minutes to pick out a few shirts.
Then there’s the home furnishing store–one of my favorite places to shop! We have a really good one out here called Home Sense. Their prices are great and their selection is unique–not the generic type of stuff you see in a department store. (And no, I’m not getting paid to say that–but I should be! LOL)
I picked up an incredible spice rack a while back that looks like a vintage piece. It hangs on the wall in our kitchen near the pay phone and since it’s fairly large, it fits all of my spices.
When Michael and I go to Home Sense together, he doesn’t really “get” my way of shopping.
“Do you mind if I buy this, honey? It’s so pretty!” I’ll say.
His reply is usually, “Well, do you really need it?”
The truth is I don’t need “pretty” but I feel better when I’m surrounded by it. I love having a few extra cushions on the couch, a bouquet of silk flowers on the table, and a stack of vintage suitcases beside the striped arm chair. That’s just who I am.
Like most women I know, I enjoy the little touches that make our house a home. He’s happy to just come home and have a comfortable place to relax.
If I wanted to list the many ways we are different, my words would be endless. We’re like two pieces of one puzzle, so different and yet we’re designed to come together as one.
Our differences work in our favor, but there are still those days when I can’t understand why he doesn’t see things my way.
Why isn’t he passionate about painting our bedroom purple, like I am? Why does he go to bed so early on weekends and wake up at 6:30? Why doesn’t he want to travel as much as I do?
I could drive myself crazy if I started to dwell on these things. Or, I could choose a better path where I celebrate the man that he is and appreciate those things that make him unique.
These differences between Michael and I, remind me of this verse as it relates to the body of Christ:
For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith; Romans 12:3-6
A great marriage is not when the ‘perfect couple’ come together. It is when an imperfect couple learns to enjoy their differences. – Dave Meurer
Now about that purple room… I have a little more convincing to do…
The Vow: To Seek an Understanding of, and Embrace Our Differences
Today’s Challenge: When you find that you are on different sides of the fence when it comes to the things you enjoy, try to see things his way. And if you don’t? Learn to let go of the small stuff. Ask yourself if it really matters, or if this is something that you both need to discuss.
You are loved by an almighty God,
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