It's Not What I Want

As you may have read in my last post, recently my husband and I built a house. I've always been told if you can build a house together then you can make it through anything. To our surprise, we didn't really argue that much over the actual building process. We had been house hunting so much that we knew exactly what we wanted and agreed on most things. At least until we got to the paint colors.

It was the time in the process that we had to pick out colors to go in the house. Now, I am a very basic, traditional person. I wanted the same color throughout the house. My husband, on the other hand, wanted to have some color in it. When I tell you we got into a knockdown, drag-out fight in the middle of Lowes I am not exaggerating. I'm pretty sure the whole place was staring at us while I basically yelled at him because he didn't agree with me. He then walked away and we both took some time to cool off.

When I finally found him in the store, we sort of talked it out. We were perfectly fine and calm until he told me "You are terrible at compromise. You pick what you want and then find a way to fit what I want into that bubble and call it a compromise." I did NOT like to hear that. And at the time I disagreed with him.

Once I really thought about his words and actually comprehended them without getting mad about it, I realized he was right! I am horrible at compromising.

This realization made me reevaluate other areas in my life, mainly my relationship with God. Do I actually listen to what he wants for me? Or am I so consumed with what I want that I take what he says and just make it fit into my bubble? Wouldn't it be nice if what he wanted for us could fit into our bubble? Keeping it in our bubble keeps us in our comfort zone. God doesn't want us in our comfort zone. The way we grow is by stepping away from that comfort and trusting God's process. Now, I'm not saying I do it every time. The good Lord knows that I don't, but when I do I am rewarded so heavily!

I took the words my husband said to me that day and I made a conscious effort to change not only how I compromise in my marriage but also how I obey what God wants me to do.

Oh, and just in case you were wondering... We decided on a color scheme of gray. I actually did compromise for once!

“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:10