Global freezing - not warming? Yup - that is us, Eric and I that is. I saw this picture and thought immediately of myself yesterday. Wouldn't I have been better off if I had just walked out the door and stuck my tongue to a street sign rather that spout off at the mouth to Eric...you betcha! And the weather conditions were just right. But in my infinite wisdom, I chose to stay inside and let loose. So not like me.
See, Eric and I are different which is probably a good thing. Two of me would prove to be certain death. So God, in His infinite wisdom, put two very different people together. I fly by the seat of my pants, Eric is a list maker; I drive cautiously, Eric scares me; I hate mushrooms, Eric loves them; I have the gift of gab, Eric, well...not so much; I like my feet firmly planted on the ground, Eric jumps out of airplanes and the list goes on. We definitely have similarities or we wouldn't love one another, and quite frankly we compliment one another. His strength is my weakness and vice versa. So what does this have to do with global freezing you ask...
Eric (being the rational one) wants to find a "global" financial picture and I don't want any part of it...budgets are just not my thing. For twenty years he has been trying to get me to sit down and create a budget. We lovingly refer to that as the "B" word. I don't say the "B" word and Eric lives by the "B" word. He owns and operates two companies so the "B" word is all he knows. And he is darn good at it. So I figure since he is so good at it, he doesn't need me. As long as I have checks or a credit card, it must mean that there is money, right? In actuality we would probably be knocking at broke's door by now were it left up to me. So, my theory is "who cares about tomorrow" and his is "we need to prepare for the next 16 generations". Neither is totally healthy I guess...but mine certainly is more practical, right?
So, yesterday he said the "B" word...that's right. First thing in the morning he said it...the mother of all bad words! And we were off. Each of us cracking our whips, trying to be the first to the finish line - the victor! And not only did he say the "B" word, he said we needed a "global" financial picture. Now, I don't even know what that means, but certainly global is BIG and if I don't want to sit thru a regular grueling session of budgeting (oh, I just said it!) why on earth would I want to sit through a "global" anything! I knew enough to steer clear of that one. And if he said "global" picture once, he said it half a dozen times. Each time sending me farther and farther into orbit.
On my way back to earth (and reality) I saw it. Not global warming. Nope. For us, it is "global" freezing. Right there in the blink of an eye - in an instant - we were frozen. Him on the "global" picture, me on - well - I don't even know what, but be assured it wasn't "global" anything. Maybe it was. It just might have been "global" irritation.
We have not revisited this much. This morning I handed him a list (remember, he is a list guy) of points of consideration...that was a good one, right? I thought "good one, R (that's me)". I never said the "global" word and Lord knows I NEVER said the "B" word. We left it at he will go over my list, I will sit and wait. Wait for him to come to his senses and agree with me of course.
Now, I am not all together convinced that he will, and perhaps I might even have to bend my neck a bit on this one. But I still can't imagine doing the "B" thing (I bet that sounds 'dirty' to you, too, right - see it IS a bad thing) EVER, and he can't imagine me NOT...hence the freezing.
Our home is warm with a fire right now. We have love. We have our health and our family, all to the praise of our Lord. But we remain frozen on the "global" front for now. I would guess that 20 years into it, the thaw might not be right around the corner...maybe it is. But I don't see any reason to compromise my moral values by even uttering that rotten "B" word. So for now, I will continue to stick my fingers in my ears to NOT hear that word, he will continue to say it all the more frequently to get me to unstick my heels. Neither will accomplish the big thaw. But we forge ahead...ice or not...freezing or not...and in the end, we will have accomplished something global I am sure. Maybe it will be world peace. And the sad part is, we probably have a better chance of world peace than we do melting this frozen thing he calls "a global picture".
Next time, I am marching straight outside and sticking my tongue to the first metal thing I come across!
