Life's Lessons
Do you ever have those life is good moments. I've been having a lot of them lately. Moments where I realize that AJ & I are going to be okay financially. Or where you enjoy the simple company of your family. You look forward to going to work. Going to the grocery store. Going home to curl up on the couch & watch TV. I'm not sure if it's the Christmas season that has sparked it, or if I'm just genuinely happier than I was earlier this year. Whatever it is, I appreciate it. It's nice to feel warm and fuzzy every once in a while.
AJ and I went out to dinner with his family last night for his dad's birthday. To be honest, I was looking forward to the dinner until his parents called to tell us to get a table for seven. Seven? There's only five in his family. Plus me = six. Minus his sister, who's still at school = five. Seven? Seven must mean that my brother in law's girlfriend and daughter are coming. Perrrfect. It has been really hard for me to like his girlfriend. Let me give you a little background:
When they started dating, they weren't really public about it, so no one really knew. When she would come over to my in-law's house, she would stay in the car, hang out outside, or just make herself pretty invisible. She never came on family outtings. On the off chance you would come in contact with her, she really wouldn't talk. Have you ever tried to like a person who makes themselves pretty non-existent? It went way beyond shy. And I struggled a lot with liking this girl that I hadn't really ever met. And they've been together for about a year. So for the last twelve months, I've felt this way. When you spend that much time trying to be nice to someone who pretty much won't speak to you, it's extremely hard not to turn nasty. And I can say that I definitely failed. I took her shy-ness as rude-ness.
So, needless to say, I was a little less than enthusiastic about dinner last night after we found out we were having company. The last time we all ate together, the two of them sat at the opposite end of the table & didn't really talk to anyone. I was pleasantly surprised, though. We talked. We laughed. It completely changed my opinion. I really had no reason not to like her, but after so long of not really showing the effort to get to know anyone, I couldn't really find a reason to like her. It wasn't a completely 360. She's not my best friend. It was progress, though. I went from "I really hope they aren't serious." to "It wouldn't be so bad if they ended up getting married."
I guess the point of this isn't really to say "Don't judge someone you don't know" because we all know we're going to do it anyway, but it's more like God tapped me on the shoulder and said, "Hey, you, not everyone is an open book. Take the time to get to know some people. It might do you a little good every once in a while."
I'm glad she was at dinner last night. I feel like it was a big step.
Enter fuzzy feeling.
(Annie, if you're reading this: we missed you at dinner last night!!!)
AJ and I went out to dinner with his family last night for his dad's birthday. To be honest, I was looking forward to the dinner until his parents called to tell us to get a table for seven. Seven? There's only five in his family. Plus me = six. Minus his sister, who's still at school = five. Seven? Seven must mean that my brother in law's girlfriend and daughter are coming. Perrrfect. It has been really hard for me to like his girlfriend. Let me give you a little background:
When they started dating, they weren't really public about it, so no one really knew. When she would come over to my in-law's house, she would stay in the car, hang out outside, or just make herself pretty invisible. She never came on family outtings. On the off chance you would come in contact with her, she really wouldn't talk. Have you ever tried to like a person who makes themselves pretty non-existent? It went way beyond shy. And I struggled a lot with liking this girl that I hadn't really ever met. And they've been together for about a year. So for the last twelve months, I've felt this way. When you spend that much time trying to be nice to someone who pretty much won't speak to you, it's extremely hard not to turn nasty. And I can say that I definitely failed. I took her shy-ness as rude-ness.
So, needless to say, I was a little less than enthusiastic about dinner last night after we found out we were having company. The last time we all ate together, the two of them sat at the opposite end of the table & didn't really talk to anyone. I was pleasantly surprised, though. We talked. We laughed. It completely changed my opinion. I really had no reason not to like her, but after so long of not really showing the effort to get to know anyone, I couldn't really find a reason to like her. It wasn't a completely 360. She's not my best friend. It was progress, though. I went from "I really hope they aren't serious." to "It wouldn't be so bad if they ended up getting married."
I guess the point of this isn't really to say "Don't judge someone you don't know" because we all know we're going to do it anyway, but it's more like God tapped me on the shoulder and said, "Hey, you, not everyone is an open book. Take the time to get to know some people. It might do you a little good every once in a while."
I'm glad she was at dinner last night. I feel like it was a big step.
Enter fuzzy feeling.
(Annie, if you're reading this: we missed you at dinner last night!!!)
True that :)
ReplyDeleteaww glad things were a little better!
ReplyDelete