The first year….
Lesson 2: Consider others more important than yourself. In the first year of marriage I remember one incident above others that demonstrated the kind of love Gary was capable of…
Understanding that opposites attract, one of our opposing traditions dealt with security. I never locked anything… Gary locked up everything. Everyday when he came home, Gary asked two questions. “Did you go anywhere in the car today?” and “Did you remember to lock it?” and I would have a variety of responses… like “I don’t know.” or “I can’t remember.”… so he would head out the door and go check and go lock the doors and come back in to tell me to remember to lock the car doors…and I would give some kind of mild consent to such a great idea… only to be met the next day by his routine questioning and he to be met by my failing to carry out the plan.
One day, however, when I saw Gary pull up home to the house it seemed to take longer for him to come in… I looked out the window and what I saw motivated me to lock the doors more than any words he had ever said before. There was Gary stopped at the car on the way in… just going ahead and locking up the car himself… not calling attention to himself, not asking me anymore, just taking it on rather than get angry or frustrated at my lack of conforming or obeying really. Phil 2: 3-4 in the Message states: Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand. Are you able to put yourself aside and help others before yourself? My memory to recall a commitment improved greatly because of my husband’s willingness to overlook my lack–