The weekend

We had a wonderful weekend here. Friday night we went to dinner with some friends of ours, and then went back to their house for card games. I'm learning several new card games, which some of you may know that strategy with playing cards has not been my strong suit in the past- I still can't play Euchre. I don't know how I made it through college without getting that skill since it's a graduation pre-requisite for most. Friday I learned how to play 9-up, 9-down, which they tell me is similar to Hearts, but I don't know how to play that one either. The next thing on the list is Texas Hold 'Em, though I'm pretty sure it'll be a while before I'm any good at that.

Saturday we slept in, which we were both very glad for. It's been a while since we had the opportunity. Had a relaxed breakfast with good coffee, and then geared up for a work day around the house. We spent most of the day getting additional storage space added to the attic, by laying down another sheet of plywood, and organizing our closets within the house. Joseph taught me how to use the circular saw - I cut the plywood into three sheets, all without causing any bodily damage. :) Joseph also installed another light in the attic so we could see to organize a little better. That guy is so handy, and it amazes me that he just knows how to install a new light fixture without any instructions. So glad I have him.

After working hard all day, we both crashed on the couch for a little while before going to grab a late dinner at our new favorite Mexican restaurant, Cancun. I think it's the new El Canelo for all of you Wooster-ites. After dinner, we went over to Barnes & Nobles to browse through books and sip coffee, one of my favorite weekend activities. I really could spend hours at a bookstore looking at all the books!

Sunday morning we woke up to heavy rain- which means it's perfect sleeping weather. With the time change and the rain, it's a wonder we made it out of bed for church. ;) I'm glad we did though... we had a great Sunday School lesson about the relationships in our lives. The main point of the message was that we must exercise a redeeming attitude/action in relationships where we've been hurt. This is never the easy choice, but it is the only way to continue to grow in the relationship. We can choose to reject the other person, responding with a tit-for-tat attitude. But this will not move us forward. If we choose to respond to the offending party in a like manner, then the cycle continues spiraling downward until we are left with an empty relationship with no passion. If we accept the hurt of the offender and keep it inside without confronting it, we become enablers, and begin to harbor feelings of resentment. Eventually, this leaves us with an empty relationship also, void of any true concern for the other since we have come to resent that person entirely. The only way to get past the offense, and hurt, is to respond to the offender in a timely manner, and with a redeeming attitude. We need to let them know that what they have done has hurt us, in a calm way seeking reconciliation. And then, even though our feelings are still hurting, we need to redeem them by treating them with love, respect, and appreciation - even if we don't think they deserve it. This is the only way to make the relationship grow past the offense. Otherwise, the offense is logged on a list kept mentally against that person, and we become unable to love them as deeply or sincerely. Another statement that was made which really stuck out to me was: Every important relationship in our lives will cause us pain at one point. This really struck me because I've naively been thinking that there are some relationships that should never be painful due to their nature, such as parent/child, sibling/sibling, and of course husband/wife. But there is no way that these relationships could never at some point be painful due to the fact that we're all human, and these relationships are human. I think it makes the hurts easier to deal with if you expect that they will happen eventually. Of course, the trick is to trust the other person with your feelings regardless of whether and when they will hurt you. And that's exactly where ideals, and principles meet real life. It's gonna take me a little while to process all this and how I can live it out, but I'm curious to hear any of your thoughts on this.