Mmmmmm...thank you, Lord, for Robert

Well, this one may be a bit mushy, but it's what I'm thinking right now...

I am so thankful for Robert. And thankful for what the Lord has done for us lately. We were so not looking forward to this new work schedule that would take him out of town. We did everything we could to change it. But I knew all along that the Lord knew the situation, and that He knows what's best for us.

I've always been thankful that I got to marry my best friend. It's hard to remember the beginning of our "dating" relationship because it wasn't much different than our "friend" relationship. We were still Robert and Lissa...what you see is what you get. We still had fun doing nothing, by ourselves or with our friends. We never went through that pretend, trying to impress each other stage.

Then we got married, and I thought it would be hard. (Everyone says it is!) Everyone says the first year is the hardest. Then when that year is great, other people say the third year is the hardest. Then when that year is great, the remainder say the seventh year is the hard one. Well, we're about done with number seven and none of them have been hard! How hard can it be to have a forever-long slumber party with your best friend???

Well, now on to what the Lord has done for us recently...

The first week of Robert being out of town was really tough. I hated the quiet evenings, struggled through the dinner/bedtime hours with the kids, froze by myself in bed, and wandered through my anti-climactic day. The next couple of weeks got better as I got used to it, though we struggled with our individual perceptions of what the weekends should be like. He's thinking, "All I want to do is sit on the couch and do nothing!!" I'm thinking, "Robert's home! I can get a break from the kids!!" We've had to work through those differences. And there have been other adjustments and worries too.

Robert and I are blessed to really get along remarkably well in our marriage, and we don't often have much to "work through." We don't butt heads often, almost never argue, and generally enjoy each other's company. But this is where it's at...the Lord has brought me through this small challenge to a contentment with the situation. He shook us up a little bit, and that was good for us. We needed a little shaking up, I think.

We're making more of our time together, just the two of us and with the kids. Robert is more in tune to our needs than he's ever been, and is more helpful than ever! I'm more sensitive to his needs more than before, I think. We're talking more about what we're thinking, not just what happened in our day. I think we generally appreciate each other more. And I'm really thankful for it all.