Saturday, September 29, 2012

real life



I know someday you'll get tired of hearing about it, but...

I love my husband.

Not in the least because he is a giant goofball and just makes me laugh. I think his favorite thing about being married is that he can come home and know there's someone who catches the majority of his movie references. Unlike the people at school. I think he should just stay home and hang out with me! I'm way more fun than grad school anyway...

But I digress.

Yesterday was an awful day for me -- I become inexplicably, painfully, miserably ill. After a beautiful morning walk with sights like the one above, I went home for a little nap...which turned into sleeping from probably 10:30 to 1, followed by shivering on the couch in a blanket until 2:30. At that point, I finally felt well enough to even look at the dishes.

So, I made some yummy, spicy rice (anaheim peppers have become a staple food at our house, I think) and picked up the apartment a little...but by the time I picked up Chris from campus, I felt pretty incapacitated.

And you know what? One look at me and he pulled me into a hug.

"Can we go home?" I asked in a tiny, worn-out voice.

"Of course." And just like that, we left, though he was mid-homework problem. He drove, treating it like a no-brainer when I asked him to, and then interrupted himself multiple times for my benefit. ("Wait. Never mind. It's not important right now, you don't feel good.") He got some medicine for me and asked what he could do to help with dinner. By cooking and seasoning the chicken, Chris gave me with 30 beautiful, guilt-free minutes to soak in a near-scalding bath. All in all, he made me feel so much better. And then proceeded to give even more, too.

"Chris, will you humor me for like five more minutes?"

"Um. Sure? How am I humoring you?"

"Well." I laughed. "Mostly I just need to you to smile and nod."

Which he did, beautifully, as I read him my writing for the day. He's constantly explaining his field in layman's terms for me, so it's awfully sweet of him that he'll allow me to do the same. I love that he's involved in my work, to whatever degree he can.

And then, just before bed, we read scriptures. I picked Ether 12, thinking of a conversation we had earlier in the evening about weaknesses. But once I hit verse four, I had to stop.

"Chris, what would you say your anchor is?"

Chris reminded me I have a talent for asking vague questions.

I tried again, handing him the Book of Mormon. "Well, it says here that faith and hope are an anchor to the souls of men, making them sure and steadfast. I'm always talking about how 'steady' you are, and it made me wonder how you do it."

"James 1:19." His prompt response surprised me. I looked it up, and smiled, marveling that I get to be married to him. 

Chris is definitely swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to wrath. He'll also be the first to point out that he does get angry -- in fact, that's exactly what he did next. He was annoyed with me that morning, not understanding where I was coming from and feeling like I was being illogical and frankly, a bit ridiculous. But he didn't say anything. Chris went on to attribute this to eternal perspective -- in the grand scheme of things, it just didn't matter much.

"I guess that makes sense. I struggle with that. A sense of proportion."

I also struggle with humility, and judgment, just by the way. But not my husband -- oh no. No "yeah, you really do stink at that, ha," no air of condescension, not like I would have done. He just nodded sleepily and asked if I thought that was a sufficient spiritual thought for the night.

It was, so we prayed.

And by the way, only is my husband eager to serve, insightful, funny, and steady...he prays for me, too.

I am not making this stuff up, people! This is my actual life! I am absolutely shocked that I have it this good. Chris just makes me want to be better...and I'm going to have to get better, just so I manage to keep up with him!

It's exactly the way marriage is supposed to go, I think.

I just didn't know that "the way marriage supposed to go" and "my life is pretty much a fairy tale" was the same thing.

3 comments:

  1. I love it! It makes me so happy that you two found each other! The Lord knew what he was doing by making you wait, Sara! Love ya!

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    1. Chris points out that I could have just replied like this. Sorry. ;)

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