My husband and I were folding our laundry side-by-side the other night and I couldn’t stop smiling. We are just so opposite from each other.
As my husband folded his many pairs of navy-blue underwear, I squished my bright and multi-patterned ones into a big ball and threw them in my drawer.
He went on to pair up his boring black and brown socks while I delighted in grabbing my monkey socks, my unicorn pairs, my pineapples, my anime characters and the Christmas socks that I wear all year long.
I have never gotten over how my hubby can fold his tees into perfect rectangles that stack into a neat pile. When I try to “help” he unfolds them and does it over. I don’t blame him. I am a strong member of the “good-enough” club.
All these differences spill over into our everyday lives as well.
He thinks out loud and must find just the right words to convey his meaning. My words spew quickly out of my mouth like confetti. If I can’t think of a word, I just use the first one that pops into my mind. My hubby is forever saying, “That’s not the right word.” I respond with, “Eh, close enough.”
He deals in facts and logic. I’m focused on the emotions and backstories of people.
He would live outside if he could. I love being inside with a good book.
So, why are we still together? Because, despite all these differences, we are alike in the only ways that matter. We want to please God. We want to be good and faithful servants. We want to learn and grow in our walk with Christ.
Really, when you have that in common the other stuff doesn’t matter.
Of course, we go about our goals in completely different ways. My husband has shelf after shelf of old volumes of books. I have journaling Bibles, glitter, stickers and colored pens. We have learned that there is no way we can study together and that’s okay. We respect each other’s methods.
Somehow, we found a way to build a bridge between our opposite selves. This did not come easily and it did not happen overnight, because another thing we have in common is our stubbornness and our feeling that our way is the right way.
Humor has been a big part of how we connect. Realizing that it’s okay to laugh at our differences has been a huge step toward finding common ground.
Through trial (and much error) we have built a secure platform that allowed us to raise our kids and give them the security they needed to go out into the world and choose their own partners. It will be no surprise to you that they all chose spouses who are opposites. EXCEPT in the area of faith.
For, if you have faith in common, you have the very best foundation to build upon.
Read more of Ann’s contributions to AllMomDoes here.
