difficulties

Comfortably Uncomfortable

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We all want to be comfortable. We want comfortable chairs, comfortable shoes, comfortable beds, comfortable clothes, comfortable retirements…comfortable everything.

We especially want comfortable marriages. We want marriages that are calm, happy, and easy. We want spouses who like what we like, act like we act, and always think we’re wonderful. We also want to win the lottery, but that’s probably not going to happen either.

Marriage is never completely comfortable. It is always a mixture of comfortable and uncomfortable. Because of that, you’re marriage will either be uncomfortably comfortable or comfortably uncomfortable.

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A Labor Day Lesson on Disappointment

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It’s Labor Day and I’m sick. Not loosing your last meal in the commode sick. More like head full of concrete can’t breathe sick. I’ve tried every remedy I could find in our cabinet of over-the-counter promises, but no magic bullet.

I woke up early this morning, after a hit-and-run night of sleep. Restless and mouth-breathing, I got up to find my wife sleeping on the couch so as to not catch what might be the next big thing on the CDC’s top 40. She got up to go to bed and there I was. Couldn’t sleep. Couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t stop peeing from all the water I’m drinking to stay hydrated.

This is not the way I wanted to spend Labor Day. Why did I have to get sick now?

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Happily Ever After?

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“And they all lived happily ever after.” We’ve heard these word as children, when our parents would read us our favorited story for the umpteenth time. We’ve heard these words as parents, as we’ve read our own child’s favorite story for the umpteenth time.

“Happily ever after” are the words that bring closure to the story. They are the words that resolve the dissonant chords of the story. They are the words that say, “Everything’s alright now.” They are the words we all look for. They are the words we all long for.

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The Check Engine Light

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The dreaded check engine light. I don’t know about you, but I hate the check engine light. I always fear the worst when I see it. It’s like the amber light of doom to me.

But despite how I feel about the check engine light, it really is my friend. It lets me know something is wrong so I can fix it before it gets worse. It’s much better to have a check engine light come on, then to have the car blow up suddenly without warning.

Thankfully, each marriage comes equipped with a check engine light.

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What I’ve Learned About Marriage From Buying a House – Part 6

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“You have to be patient.” I didn’t like hearing that advice as a child and I’m not a big fan of it as an adult. It’s difficult to be patient. If you don’t believe it, check out the video The Marshmallow Experiment.

We’re one week away from moving into a new house. We still have some packing to do, but we’re so close it’s hard to be patient. There are things we want to do, but we can’t because we’re not there yet. We have to be patient.

What I’ve learned about marriage from buying a house is there are times in marriage when you know what you want, but you’re not there yet and you have to be patient. For example…

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Too Many Choices

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Too many choices. Ever felt that way? You turn on your TV and there’s over 300 channels. You go to the grocery store and there are at least ten different types of anything you’re looking for. And if you go out to eat, there are more choices than you could possibly, get around to trying.

We typically think the mores choices we have, the better off we are. But that’s not necessarily true.

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3 Small Changes to Raise Your Discouragement Tolerance

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Everybody has a different level of pain tolerance. Some have a high tolerance for pain. They have the ability to tolerate pain that others might find intolerable.

Still, other people have a very low tolerance for pain. Even a small pain feels big to them. They don’t wait to see if the headache will get worse. They take something at the first sign of a headache to make it go away. The same can be said about discouragement.

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What I’ve Learned About Marriage From Buying a House – Part 3

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Have you ever had a total stranger hand you a list of things they believed needed to be changed about something really personal to you? That’s what a home inspection list is.

I niavely thought it would be smooth sailing after the contract was signed. After all, we had a buyer who wanted the house enough to sign a contract. “We’re there!” I thought. But there was more for me to learn.

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What’s A Good Marriage Look Like?

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Depositphotos_19059467_xsWhat’s a good marriage look like? Even if we don’t ask this question out loud, we all wonder what a good marriage really looks like. Maybe you have your own ideas about what a good marriage looks like. When you think about a good marriage, maybe you picture a husband and wife…

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