I write the same way almost every time. Whether it be for professional purposes or just personal blogging I do a little research, I make a little “thought bubble,” and I let the juices flow. But tonight I am writing a little differently – a little more straight from the heart.
This morning started out with routine chores: cup of coffee, feed the chickens, turn the water on for the corn and/or grass (if need be), and wait for Pan to wake up. By 7:30am she hadn’t woken up though and with the threat of rain for the day I decided to go ahead and start weeding the onion bed; a chore she had told me needed to be done really soon. Before I had even finished half of the bed Pan came outside in her gardening shoes, pajama pants, and typical bed head which somehow makes her even more attractive. Maybe its the morning light? Maybe its the natural glisten of her skin? Whatever the cause, I find her no more attractive than I do first thing in the morning.
Perhaps what is more attractive though is the spirit contained within her. Certainly other husbands wax poetic about their wives and write passive notes about them. But sometimes, like me, they need to just let it out; share, if you will. So … where was I? Spirit. Right.
Perhaps what is more attractive than anything though is Pan’s spirit, her heart, and her general character. Before she even really said anything to me she had bent down and started pulling weeds right alongside me. I pulled. She pulled. We chatted a bit … nothing much, just chatting. But for thirty minutes we shared in each others lives. We asked each other how we slept. We talked about our day to come. We discussed possible breakfast options. We invested in each other.
Now I am no marriage expert, and I am not willing to say that we are the perfect couple. But since we got married we have realized that no matter how much money we have (or don’t have), no matter what car we drive, what house we live in, what our bank account sits at, we have each other and the best investment we can make is in each other. Time spent weeding together is not time wasted. In fact, it isn’t even about the weeds or the garden. It is about two people connecting with each other for a few minutes in a quiet place.
Life gets busy. Heck, our life is busy. I work fulltime, I write for three magazines, and six websites. I speak publicly at least twice a month, I blog, I garden, etc. Pan is a fulltime housewife in that she creates meals from nothing, she gardens, she keeps us on budget, she takes care of me (by far the largest, most demanding job), and she keep things generally rolling along. But we never get so busy that we forget to take time to be with each other, bed head and all.
Perhaps it is the weeds. Perhaps it is the early morning sun. Maybe its the sound of the birds. Or maybe it is just what God always intended life to be; simple and relational.
