Our Secret Sauce, His Recipe - Be Afraid

Our Secret Sauce, His Recipe - Be Afraid

I AM A BIT of an adventurer; Steve is not. I enjoy travel and the “surprises” that sometimes accompany an excursion to a new place; Steve, not so much. I enjoy meeting people and getting to know total strangers whom I will never see again; Steve, not so much.

So off I went on an adventure to India with fourteen strangers. The unknown aspects of where I was going, who I was going with, and who I would meet once I was there were a total thrill to me.

Before I took off on my twenty-four-hour journey to the other side of the world, Steve and his mom met for lunch. Harriett, a loving mother to us both, asked Steve, “Aren’t you afraid for her to go?” Steve replied, “I would be more afraid to ask her to stay.”

My husband not only understands our differences, he embraces them. Rather than try to mold me, bribe me, or chastise me into being someone other than who I am, Steve encourages me, even though sometimes he has to look the other way. Was he worried for my safety? Absolutely. But would he have put his worry and fear ahead of my yearning and desire for new learning experiences? Not in a million years.

You and your spouse might be different from one another; in fact, I can almost bet that you two are very different. There’s no doubt in my mind that opposites do attract. Can you embrace this truth rather than trying to change it?

I can speak only from my own personal experience. Nothing makes me feel more loved than when Steve is afraid of changing me from who God created me to be.

Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. (Romans 12:10)

Be afraid . . . not of the growth or separation that might result from your development but of stifling the maturation that will make both of you more complete human beings—separately and together.