TURKEY NOODLE SOUP
Ever have moments with your spouse that start off easy, enjoyable and filled with fun and suddenly, out of nowhere, something happens that completely derails your mood and instantly changes your disposition? It can be anything, big, small or in the middle. Left the toilet seat up, used that last paper towel and didn’t replace it, did they REALLY leave their shoes there again? Well, for me, last night, that thing was the noodles in turkey noodle soup. This sounds RIDICULOUS, because, simply said, it is! But the truth is, that’s life, that was a real issue in our marriage in that moment and I’m realizing more and more with each passing day that it’s how we navigate these seemingly insignificant challenges in marriage that define how we will persist through the big stuff. Let me set the scene, last night was Nick and my 7th anniversary, my brother-in-law and sister-in-law drove in from Indy and had graciously offered to watch the kids for us to go out. I was excited to be getting ready and over the moon to have a much overdue date night. Now, long story short, I made homemade turkey noodle soup and after carefully working on each element for hours Nick assured me he had the last ingredient (wide egg noodles) handled. I reluctantly (oh, I’m a recovering perfectionist and control freak, but more on that later) retreated to finish getting ready and returned 25 minutes later to noodles that were far beyond the al dente finish I had planned. I was so upset! Somehow, it felt like a personal offense and I got downright pissed.
I walked away stewing
about my “ruined” soup (see what I did there, punny, huh?). I knew that my reaction was extra, but it was
SO REAL. This is not the first precious moment that has felt like it was trying to be
robbed from us, and I wasn’t going to stand for it this time. I walked into my room and started talking to
God “God, its soup, I don’t want this night to be ruined over freaking mushy noodles.
Help me redeem this!”. As a believer, I
know that marriage is a threat to the enemy and I believed this to be a direct
attack on the celebration of our marriage.
The answer quickly settled into my spirit: I needed to humble myself and
apologize. Nick didn’t intentionally mess
up, it was a mistake... He got out of the shower and I immediately found him and
apologized for over-reacting causing him any shame and asked for forgiveness and a
reset.
Friends, I cannot express enough the way that repenting has strengthened our marriage. Not only acknowledging our roles in causing hurt or pain, but following it up with a request for forgiveness and your partner CHOSING to forgive you. The intention behind these actions has totally revolutionized our marriage and our family. We mess up every day, but our marriage is strengthened each and every time we chose our marriage over being right. It takes work and alot of humility, but good stuff in life is always worth the work.
**You know that feeling of hope and desire for the “more” you could achieve. The passions and yearnings floating within you, most yet undiscovered or unknown, but there and filling you with a distant but familiar and comforting sense of wonder and curiosity? I have felt totally and fully filled by that emotion this past year. I purchased this domain nearly a year ago now, knowing it was the right next step but without a clear direction on what this space would or should be used for. I’m sure it will change over time but after this experience I felt really compelled that this was the type of real life content that would resonate with others. I hope you found that to be true. Until next time...
❤ Christine
Note: The real kicker is that the noodles actually turned out perfectly! All that frustration for nothing... such is life!
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