I’m sure you’ve heard that old adage that “opposites attract” when it comes to couples. I’ve seen that as true with lots of relationships I’ve observed…but overall, this was not true with Dan and me. I would not say we are opposites, since many aspects of our personality are quite similar.
We are both driven people, who can be perfectionists. My grandma had a saying, “When a job has begun, never leave it til it’s done. Whether it be great or small, do it well or not at all”. Yep, we both tend to agree with this statement. This can be a good trait to have…and sometimes it can be a curse…because we can drive other people nuts since we can expect others to have the same desires.
One area of our lives that was a complete opposite when we met, was the areas we lived in growing up. Dan was raised in the country, where his parents had a huge garden and grew most of their own food. I, on the other hand, always lived in town, even spending my jr. high and high school days in a suburb of Los Angeles. Trust me, that’s about as far from country living as you can get!
So, when we became engaged and needed to start looking for a home…there wasn’t a discussion on whether we would live in town or in the country. Dan made it very clear that he couldn’t live with another home right next door. It wasn’t going to happen. I was fine with venturing out of town…but I had no clue what I was in for…but it wasn’t because Dan didn’t pre-warn me ahead of time.
Let me explain. We bought our home several months before our wedding and Dan moved into the house. One evening, I took my parents over to show them our purchase and we were walking around outside. I saw a weed in one of the flower beds and so I bent over to very carefully pull it out…because heaven forbid I would get any dirt under my fingernails. Yes, I wanted the weed out…but messing up my manicured nails wasn’t in the plan.
But Dan had other ideas. He quietly came up behind me, grabbed both of my hands and plunged them deep in the dirt. He then said, “LuAnn, you might as well get used to it from the beginning.” I’m not sure who laughed harder at that point…Dan or my mom…because my mom never thought she would see my hands in dirt. Let’s just say…Dan was fortunate that I was in love with him
As the years went by, my mom continued to be amazed as she observed me gardening, using a pressure canner and learning to operate a garden tractor. These were all things that I thought I could never master. I also remember pulling into their driveway one day in our pickup truck and my mom met me at the door laughing. I asked her what was so funny, and she said she just never thought she would see the day where I would be driving a truck. I guess miracles really do happen.
Do you know what the biggest miracle was in all of this? I learned to love having my hands in dirt! Not only do I love gardening, I also discovered I enjoy canning and cooking and baking. I was fortunate to have a wonderful mother-in-law, who I affectionately called “Betty Crocker”. She patiently taught me all the ins and outs of living and thriving in the kitchen and in the country.
You are probably wondering where in the world I am going with all of this. Well, I was thinking about all this the other day and the thought came to me, “What would have happened if I would have stuck to what I was familiar with and not attempted things that were so foreign to me?” Besides probably having a lot more stress in our marriage…I would have missed out on a way of living that brings me SO much joy. I honestly can’t imagine not having all these things in my life.
So, I want to ask you…is there something that God has put in your path which you are just sure you can’t do? I want to urge you to give it a try. Take a step forward in accomplishing something towards that goal. I’m guessing if God has brought it to you…it just might be something that will eventually give you so much joy. Our world is full of so many opportunities to help us grow and develop into the person He intends us to be…and I believe you have much more potential than you can even imagine. Trust me…if I can have dirt under all my fingernails and enjoy it…there are things you can learn to do that today seems impossible!
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