Tension

JD recently attended the Catalyst East conference. It is a leadership conference that "sees a need to ignite and unite the next generation of leaders allowing their passions and gifts to flourish and have maximum impact in our churches and culture."

He came home fired up about what God is doing in the lives of other believers! It was so great to see that passion in him. Don't you love how conferences, retreats, etc. put us back on that mountaintop in our relationship with the Lord?

The entire conference was titled "The Tension is Good." In one of the sessions tension was related to the battle between home and job. I want JD at home. His boss wants him at work. He can't be at both places at once. Sometimes his job is going to require him to put in extra hours. Sometimes we will need him around the house a bit more.

Can you see the tension? If he puts in too many hours at work, the home suffers and he'll lose his grip on his family, maybe even damage those relationships permanently. But if he's always at home he's going to lose his job and everyone suffers including his calling from God. He can't ignore one tension completely, therefore he has to allow one to overpower the other at times so that the "tension is good".

My job as his wife is to be okay with the tension. I know that if he puts in lots and lots of hours for VBS or Fall Festival, he can take a day off to get away with us after the rush is over. VBS takes HOURS to pull off, as in 80+ hours a week for a couple of weeks in a row. (It may not be many hours for your family, but it is a lot for us.) And the first year I thought I was going to scream. And I probably did--at him. But I eventually learned that this is once a year. And if I give him his space and let him work, he desires to be at home with me when it is all said and done. Yelling only makes him want to stay at work.

This is only one of many tensions that exist in his life and together we are learning when one tension gets priority, the other side gets it's turn right around the corner.

Speaking of tensions, how about his time at home watching sports and relaxing versus family time with no TV....tension? Normally, yes, but not tonight because I will be showing my husband love by watching our Texas Rangers play in the World Series!!! I'm just as excited to watch baseball history and allow these two tensions to walk hand in hand!