Jenne Lichty - Collected Thoughts

2019 Jenne Lichty

Collected Thoughts

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Scripture quotations marked esv are from the ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version). Copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked nasb are from New American Standard Bible. Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. ( www.Lockman.org )

Scripture quotations marked nlt are from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation. 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019911198

ISBN 978-1-400327911 (Paperback)

ISBN 978-1-400327928 (Hardback)

ISBN 978-1-400327935 (eBook)

Please note that footnotes in this ebook may contain hyperlinks to external websites as part of bibliographic citations. These hyperlinks have not been activated by the publisher, who cannot verify the accuracy of these links beyond the date of publication.

Thanks to God for spelling out this plan in skywriting for me.

Thanks to my hubby and best bud for always blindly backing me with every fiber and penny he has and for consistently providing me with content.

Thanks to my kiddos for getting excited with me even when they didnt have a clue what we were excited about.

Thanks to my Ma for spelling my name wrong.

Thanks to OFT for all the cry laugh emojis.

No wait, please dont start the music.

A couple of lessons Ive learned along the way:

Never go to bed angryIts sound advice the bible gives. All that happens is you get angrier because hell still fall asleep inside of 4.5 seconds, which in turn makes you lose sleep, so that in the morning youre too tired to put in the effort to remember what you were angry about the night before anyway.

Never keep scoreFirstly, because math sucks and trying to keep mental tallies is exhausting and keeping hard copy tallies is weird and secondly, because if you both approach each day/situation with the intention of putting your spouse first and making him/her happy, you both reap the benefits, and it never feels uneven.

Dont become strangersBe sure to gross your kids out on a daily basis with excessive PDAs.

Play to your strengthsDont sweat it if it ends up making your household run like its in the 1950s. If youre good at laundry and cooking and cleaning and hes good at vehicle maintenance and finances, own it! Its way better than having itchy undies because too much detergent was put in the washer.

Decide early on that farts are funny.

So Im not a nagging wife. I make a point of it actually. But I have to admit I can come pretty close if it has to do with something Im really stuck on yeah, lets be honest I can be super irritating. Like a hair in your mouth you cant get. Or a whistle in your significant others nose when its quiet. Or a sock that keeps slipping into your shoe. Yep, I can be a wheezing hairy slouch sock. See, many of my creative visions require bulging biceps, or the ability to drive a massive truck and trailer, neither of which I possess. Thank goodness my hubby inevitably opts to shut me up because, frankly, I start to annoy myself.

One of the best things we ever did was have our kids early in our marriagethis way, we never knew what it was like to have money.

Hubby: Whats for dinner tonight?

Me: BLTs Im totally craving them.

Hubby: Sounds awesome.

Two hours later

Hubby: Im headed into town for gas. Do you need anything?

Me: Yeah, perfect! We need bread, lettuce, bacon, and tomatoes.

Hubby: Sooooo, all we had was mayo?

Me: Oh, and mayo.

Ive learned that perspective plays a major role in more than just identifying whether an art project was done in grade 1 or grade 10. The washing machine that came with the house croaked very suddenly. At least it didnt suffer. After letting the rinse cycles drain into buckets and wringing out two loads by hand, I put it out of my mind to prepare for the company that was coming. My hubby went out to get a few things and came home one hour before the company was to arrive with the announcement Your new washer will be here in twenty minutes! (note: the laundry room is directly off the kitchen in full view without a door. Proceed).

I had the opportunity to react with one of two perspectives:

A. What?!?! Theyll be here in an hour, and Ive already washed the floors and staged the house (yeah I do that dont judge). I still have some food prep to do, and now we need to move the old machine out after ripping out the countertop to get the new, larger washer in, move the kitchen table, wash the floor under the old machine, rewash the rest of the floors after boot traffic in and out...

Or

B. You sweet, sweet man. You knew how important a washing machine is in this household, and you didnt want me to be without for days on end. You picked out the perfect model (even though you dont even know where the on button is on the old one because thats my domain), knowing just what features I need and which ones I would never use because you listen to my offhand comments, and you picked a white one because you knew I couldnt handle a dual-coloured pair. Thank you.

I opted for B, and man what a difference it made to the day! Heres to always taking a positive perspective on situations that come our way.

Our marriage is aging like a fine wine: its an acquired taste and lots of crud has settled over time.

Marriage is a full-time job, not just a hobby that you give whatever you have left at the end of your day to pursue. If you had to apply for marriage like you do your dream job, your CV should list skills and abilities such as the following:

Communication: formulating questions deeper than Did you pick up milk?

Ability to work under pressure: managing to snag a welcome home kiss even with bickering kids, a barking dog, and a pot of pasta boiling over on the stove in the background.

Time management: recognizing the importance of scheduling time alone together in the midst of regular tasks and routine appointments.

Conflict resolution: always completing this responsibility before going to bed.