Several years ago when our oldest was a baby, Jason purchased about fifty dollars’ worth of shirts and jeans and took them home to try on since Sam’s Club does not have dressing rooms. The next morning we got in the car to return most of them to get our money back. When we arrived at the store, Jason could not find the bag of items to return. Then I saw he looked kind of sick. “I left them on top of the car…” We back tracked everywhere, but some one had already found them and taken them. Jason was quite upset over the loss of money. I felt very bad for him, so I was really understanding and sweet over the loss. This turned out to be providential.
Two weeks later we went and filled out all the paper work to refinance our house with our one-year-old baby in tow. We were extremely relieved when we finally finished. I carried the baby and all the paper work out to the car. In order to open the door, I put the three-inch-thick stack of papers containing all of our personal information on top of the car. And, you guessed it, I forgot it! We didn’t notice until we were on the interstate and my husband saw paper flying around. “Esther, where is the paperwork?” The expression on my face told all. He slammed on the breaks, pulled over, and ran like a wild man all over the interstate picking up the precious papers. I watched. I laughed. When he got back in the car, he was furious. Unfortunately, I could not stop laughing as I remembered the sight of him running wildly all over the interstate trying to collect the papers. My laughing did not help matters one bit! Finally I said, “Uh, Jason, you remember two weeks ago . . . you know the Sam’s clothes . . . .” He got a funny look on his face as it dawned on him that he had very recently made the exact same mistake as I had, and he also had to have remembered how very kind and understanding I had been, because his anger vanished. I was never so glad that I had done the right thing.
(As always posts about my husband are posted with his permission!)
This is an example of a time I did the right thing. Here is an example of a time I did the wrong thing. The Unsubmissive Wife.
Rachel says
September 17, 2010 at 8:28 amLaughter is a great stress reliever! I think I would have been with Jason…
Mike says
September 17, 2010 at 10:02 amAbsolutely love the education of grace as it evidences itself in a marriage…without it life just ain’t fun!
Mumsy says
September 17, 2010 at 11:56 amAwwww… I love this post! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Kim says
September 17, 2010 at 1:48 pmHi! I just wanted to let you know that I have given you the Versatile Blogging Award on my blog. A Versatile Blogger brings everything to the table: good writing, good stories, a little bit of this and a little bit of that. I hope you will accept my award by visiting my blog and “picking it up.” Then you can pass it on to your favorite bloggers, too. It’s a great way to find and share new blogs. Have a great day! Here is the link: http://kimmama.com/2010/09/17/seven-things-about-me/
EstherIrish says
September 17, 2010 at 3:00 pmKim, How fun is that! Thank you so much for including me! I will certainly have to give it some thought!
Lynn says
September 17, 2010 at 7:35 pmGood for you – both of you! 🙂
Mandi says
September 18, 2010 at 10:29 pmThis story really made me laugh! I’ll have to remember this the next time my husband does something silly! 🙂
Ash Peaster says
September 20, 2010 at 2:16 pmHahahaha I’m so glad he wasn’t mad at you!! This reminds me of something that happened between me and my Jason a few months ago! Ah! It’s so nice to be able to say “But remember when…” and that look of upset disappointment vanishes because he can’t be mad at you for something he’d done too! haha <3 I love it!
Anne says
September 20, 2010 at 4:28 pmLOL… That is hillarious. You had me laughing. I can just imagine how frustrated he must have been and I can imagine you laughing.
Shannon says
September 22, 2010 at 11:02 amOh Esther- that is truly CLASSIC!! I’ve done the same thing- though it’s usually a drink I put on the car roof only to start driving- get thirsty and then wonder “where is my soda?”
lol.
Tina says
September 30, 2010 at 9:53 pmEsther,
Wow! what a message. How we need to be careful how we respond to our husbands or anybody else because you never know when you’re going to do it yourself.
Thanks for the laugh! I can just picture your poor husband running around chasing the papers on the interstate. I can also imagine you laughing! For some reason I have a feeling that you have a laugh just like mine. It’s very hearty and contagious. People have always told me that they can’t help but laugh when I do because it’s so contagious! What a Blessing from God!
In Christ’s Love
Sis in Christ
Tina
Warren Baldwin says
December 6, 2010 at 4:16 pmHilarious story! Your gracious response let to receiving a gracious response when you needed one, even if you had to give a nudge!
I lined to M M, also, with an article on engagement. wb
Julie@comehaveapeace says
December 6, 2010 at 8:02 pmSuch a great story about being ready to give the kind of grace to each other that we hope to receive in return. I’ve always said that I’m glad my husband isn’t perfect, because he’s much more accepting of my imperfections that way. 😉
Mai Bateson says
June 17, 2013 at 3:44 amYou two are funny! That’s hilarious but inspiring! 🙂 Thanks for sharing your story to us 😀
Visiting you from the Happy Wives Club Link Up.
Kendra @ AProverbs 31 Wife says
June 18, 2013 at 10:12 amOh noooo! For some reason we don’t usually have a problem with sitting stuff on top of the car. Of course, that has more to do with the fact that we drive gas guzzling SUV’s and Trucks 🙂
Fawn Weaver says
June 18, 2013 at 2:02 pmWhat I love about this post, Esther, is you show how you did the right thing but then balance it out with an experience where you did the opposite teaching great lessons in both. And this story was most certainly a great illustration of how what goes around comes back around.
Lori @ Encourage Your Spouse says
June 19, 2013 at 10:29 amI’m the one usually doing silly stuff – Robert has perfected the patient husband role. But my reaction is the same as yours in a difficult situation. I laugh. (and usually Rob laughs also!)
Thanks for sharing both the highs of relationship mis-adventures and the lows… it’s all about learning, isn’t it?
Beth says
June 19, 2013 at 12:45 pmOoh, yeah, you did do the right thing, Esther! I probably wouldn’t have, and would have been devastated by not only my forgetfulness but my critical spirit on the backside of that debacle! This is a great example of how important it is to “sow” the good in our marriages and lives. We really never know when we’ll need to reap a good harvest instead of a bad one! Very convicting! Thanks for this great illustration and for linking up over at my place. Enjoy having you there, my friend!
Lori says
June 19, 2013 at 7:08 pmOh yes, been there done that. Once with a pair of shoes (now a widowed shoe), a Bible, and even my wallet. With the exception of the wandering shoe, all safely recovered. Whew! Visiting from Hungry for God . . . Starving for Time today and thankful for the smile 🙂
Tyson @ Uplifting Love says
June 19, 2013 at 7:54 pmGreat story! My wife and I were laughing pretty hard remembering times where we have done similar things. Thank you for sharing. It’s good to know that we’re not the only ones. 🙂
Also, I’m happy to be your newest follower! I’d love it if you could take a second to check out my blog and follow me back 🙂
Thanks so much,
Tyson@Uplifting Love