I attended the wedding of my friend Danielle yesterday. Hers is a pretty fun story: she met her husband on a mission trip in Brazil. He wasn’t supposed to be on the trip, but at the last minute, his plans changed and he went along. Something clicked for them on that week-long trip down the Amazon River and, just a short time later, via Skype, they became engaged. He’s Brazilian, she’s American. They have a lot to learn about each other in the days ahead, and they have a language barrier to overcome. But they both know that God brought them together, and keeping Him in the center of their lives will make all the difference.
David and I are approaching 22 years on our marriage journey. We still have a lot to learn also. We might both speak English, but we don’t always understand each other. Dani and Jose know that they have to be patient in order to understand each other. David and I assume we’re speaking the same language, and therefore get frustrated when one or the other of us doesn’t understand.
Maybe if we all went into marriage knowing that we have a communication gap to overcome, we’d be a lot better off. Here are a couple of examples of what women say and what we really mean. I pulled these off the website Funny2.com
ARE YOU WILLING TO: This means you better do it.
FINE: This is the word women use to end an argument when they feel they are right and you need to shut up. Never use “fine” to describe how a woman looks. This will cause you to have one of “those” arguments.
FIVE MINUTES: This is half an hour. It is equivalent to the five minutes that your football game is going to last before you take out the trash, so it’s an even trade.
NOTHING: This means “something” and you should be on your toes. “Nothing” is usually used to describe the feeling a woman has of wanting to turn you inside out, upside down, and backwards. “Nothing” usually signifies an argument that will last “Five Minutes” and will end with the word “Fine.”
We can laugh at those things, but real communication does take work, no matter how long you’ve been married–or even if you’re not married. All relationships take communication if they are to grow.
I had a conversation with my 10-year-old daughter last night. She had said some things that made a friend feel uncomfortable, and she needs to make a phone call today to talk to her about it and apologize. You would have thought the world was coming to an end. Training a child to have those difficult conversations is one of the most important things a parent can do. She will have that conversation today, and I will help her. Maybe I can learn something myself along the way.
Thankful today for:
650. weddings
651. breaks from school
652. dates (the going-out kind, not the eating kind)
653. music
654. flowers
655. tasty food that others prepare
656. wonderful trips my friends get to take
657. photos from afar
658. French toast on a Sunday morning
Compelled 