Monday, December 6, 2010

Trash Talk



This morning began in style: with a good ol’ white trash fight. Literally. Let me explain…

I won’t even pretend we are one of those couples…you know, the ones that are teddy bears and coochie-coo darlings everyday. I got a wee bit o’ Irish streaking through my veins and it has bestowed on me more than just freckles.

Here’s the scoop:
6:00 am. Vrrrooommm… (loud garbage truck driving past our window, can you tell I may be under the influence of my toddler boys?)
Me: Oh, dah-ling, did you remember (since I reminded you a million times last night) to put out the trash as it’s overflowing since you forgot it last week? (or something like this)
Bob: Nope, oops.
Me: OOPS!? What in heaven’s name are you thinking?! Seriously, what in the world?! People will confuse our yard for the garbage dump if we don’t get rid of our trash today because we have enough now to fill the Grand Canyon! (I never exaggerate)
Bob: Oh, well. Gotta go to work.
Me: ________________ !?!? (if you are a woman reading this, feel free to use your imagination here)

So much for wife of the year.

Most of the morning I was feeling pretty justified, in fact, my plan was to not talk to Bob until he got on his knees, begging forgiveness. Mature, right? Suddenly, something on the radio caught my attention.

“Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” (Phil. 4:7-9)

Well, maybe some of the things I was ruminating over about my dear husband were mostly true but I guess they wouldn’t pass the “lovely” test. I was busted, God had a better way for me to handle this situation than my Silent Monk Maria plan.

Another thought also came to mind. I once heard a widow lady say the hardest thing for her to hear after losing her husband was the way wives complained about their men. She said, “I would do anything to have back and leave his dirty socks on the floor!” 



That memory really convicted me. I’d rather have him forget to take out the trash the rest of our lives than not have him with me at all. I am so blessed to have a good man that works hard for us everyday, tickles and wrestles with our kids every night and kisses me goodbye every morning.

So I told him this and hauled all my other stinkin’ thinking out the door.


3 comments:

Hannah said...

Thank you, Tara for the reminder! It's too easy to get annoyed over those little things. In fact, as I write this, our garbage is overflowing as well as it didn't get taken out last week. ;) So blessed to have an amazing husband and daddy of my children!

Tiffany said...

This post reminds me of the 80 - 20 rule...
Focus on the 80% you love about your husband rather than the 20% that bugs you :)

Tara Cole said...

Tiffany: SO true, never heard that one, love it!