Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Reflections Day Two: Beans and Balboa


Reflections from Becky:

Today was special.

We walk by faith. Yes. Not by sight.

But today, I got a little peek.

Brent can not keep a secret. Never once have I not known my Christmas present. Never once have I been surprised on my birthday. And that's OK.

Although, I do love surprise parties. Ahem.

Today was no different.

Love Dare #2: In addition to saying nothing negative to your spouse again today, do at least one unexpected gesture as an act of kindness.

It wasn't even 8am...

Brent: Do you want to know what my unexpected gesture of kindness is today?

(I guess I assumed I was suppose to be surprised. But...)

Me: Sure.

Brent: Today, I am going to start eating healthy and running again.

Smile. Hug. A hard one.

I have nagged. I have begged. I have huffed. And puffed.

But this past December, I resolved to shut up about it. And pray.

Brent could have given me a one-million dollar alternative and I wouldn't have taken it.

I want his health.

A priceless, unexpected gesture.

Thank you Jesus.

As for me...I made him white beans.



Seems like a lame gift in light of his.

But they are his favorite.



And you know what they say about beans.

Beans, beans good for the heart. The more you eat them...

...the longer you live.

******************************************************************
Reflections from Brent:

I kind of felt like Rocky Balboa. Not when Rocky went the distance with Apollo Creed kind of "feeling like Rocky"... no, more like when Rocky ran really early on the Philadelphia morning and his side started hurting. The kind of 'feeling' that has Bill Conti's minor-key score playing in the background.

That's how I felt tonight at 9:29. My side wasn't hurting, but my lungs had that cold burn. And I spit ( or is it spat - whatever the correct English is) about 31 times.

But I had made a promise.

Earlier this morning I told Becky my random act of kindness toward her would be to eat healthy and exercise today. That would meet her needs more than running the vacuum cleaner!

I had every good intention of eating great (I did) and working out at the YMCA for about an hour (I didn't). Around 5:00 Becky called me and I still had not been to the gym. I could hear the disappointment in her voice as I explained that I had more work to do than expected.

So around 9:00 tonight, I had to keep my promise to her. I've broken too many too often. After putting the boys down, I put on my silver New Balance running gear, and one of Becky's headbands : ) I only ran a little over 2 miles. What's that... like a 1k? Nonetheless, it felt manly running in foggy, wet-pavement weather.

But even more manly knowing I kept my promise.

There's a verse in the Bible where God speaks to Saul (through Samuel) and says, "I desire obedience rather than sacrifice." In a similar way, our wives do want us to do random acts of kindness. However, many times they just want us to keep our word. I could stop in with flowers, wash her van, or put a witty Hallmark card on her pillow.

However, I think she would rather me be a man of character.

Loving her began with a first promise to her at Cokesbury Church. Sometimes THAT first promise can be the motivator for keeping the 'little' promises in week ___ of marriage. But on the flip side, keeping these everyday promises may be the secret to keeping the initial one we made years ago.

What have you promised your wife today?

1 comment:

  1. Ha ha! I was thinking along the lines of something a little less healthy!! While I definitely care about my family's health, my unexpected act of kindness involved Dr Pepper! :) I dropped by my mister's office & took him to Sonic Happy Hour!

    ReplyDelete

Comments...I love them. I read them. They encourage my socks off. Thanks!

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.

Related Posts with Thumbnails


Made with graphic elements by Cori Gammon