We Need Each Other

In our bedroom we have a frame that Cameron's dad made for us years ago--our wedding certificate together with our engagement picture. When I look at our engagement picture these days, I see it as being rather symbolic.

Notice how our outfits are virtually identical? Yep, when we were engaged we thought of ourselves as being very similar.

Ten years later I think of us as being different in complementary ways. He is technically gifted, good at math and science and solving problems. I love to hunker down with beautiful literature or music. He's a night person. I'm a morning person. He loves rice. I love bread and pasta. But the truth is, we need each other's differences. Together we have balance and life is beautiful--much more balanced and beautiful than it would be for either of us alone.

On a recent Saturday afternoon our kids (and some of their friends) were running wildly through the house, brandishing plastic swords, hiding behind (and occasionally dismantling) furniture, and yelling names at each other. I squelched my first instinct, which was to shoo them outside so I could enjoy some peace, quiet, and tranquility. I thought of my sweet husband and how much we need each other's differences. And I realized that I also need these wild but sweet, boisterous but tender children of ours.

I crave silence. They love noise. I crave order. They create chaos. I crave alone time. They love to climb all over me. Together we achieve balance. Without them, my life would be oh so sterile and lonely. I need them.

Parenthood is about many things, but the process of becoming is certainly one of those things. These people God puts in my family teach me patience, understanding, sacrifice, and love. I learn to appreciate their differences--my way isn't always the only way or even the right way. God is slowly carving me through these people and experiences. In time He will help me be much more balanced and much more like Him.

Thank goodness God gave us families to mold and shape us and balance us out. I love my ragtag, noisy bunch--displaced furniture, disasters, and all!