This Is Dumb - I Do Every Day - October 23

I Do Every Day

Audio By Carbonatix

Crosswalk.com

This Is Dumb
By Carlos Santiago

As we were preparing for our wedding, my wife absorbed every piece of bridal information she could get her hands on: TV programs, magazines, even bridal expos.

I didn’t know much about planning a wedding, so at first, her diligence was reassuring. Over time, however, I realized something was wrong.

Long after the wedding was over, she continued to buy the magazines and watch the wedding shows. I didn’t know what to make of it. She kept showing me pictures specifically of wedding cakes, and all I could think was, This is dumb. We’re married already.

I realized I had a choice to make. I could continue to belittle her interests in the hope that she would give it up, or I could find a way to enter her world.

I decided to take a closer look at those cakes.

The more I learned, the more intrigued I became. I was hooked the day I saw a miniature village crafted out of chocolate and sugar at a bridal show. The engineering was incredible. Suddenly, these cakes didn’t seem so dumb.

Did I suddenly fall in love with ribbons and fancy parties? No. But I did find a way to respect something she cared about.

When her father turned 50, I helped her make a cake so tall she needed to stand on a chair to decorate the top. It weighed a ton and fed more than 200 people. The cake was a hit. People couldn’t stop talking about how beautiful it was.

Yet while all eyes were on the cake, mine were fixed on my wife. She was glowing in a way I had never seen before.

A few years later, she opened her own wedding cake business. Not only was I able to watch her excel in a career that gave her joy, but we were able to do it together. I even helped her make a smoking volcano out of sugar for a dinosaur cake.

Eighteen years of working side by side—which almost never happened—all because I decided to be a part of her world.

Do hobbies cause disagreements in your marriage? Read more on the importance of sharing common interests with your spouse.

The Good Stuff: Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. (Philippians 2:4)

Action Points: Does your spouse have an interest or hobby you’ve belittled? What would it look like for you to take a step toward growing respect for your spouse’s interest? Is there a way for you to participate without giving up what makes you uniquely you?