date #7

so my dad told an awesome little story the other night.

remember the time Jesus walked on water?
me too.

let's recap.

the twelve disciples are out on their boat
when the waters become rough and difficult.

cue Jesus, walking toward them on the surface,
performing this famous miracle.
the disciples were afraid
but Jesus reassured them it was indeed Him.

peter spoke out,
saying,
"if it really is you, let me walk out to you"

Jesus invited him to step onto the water,
knowing that peter would fail
that his faith would waver.

my father emphasized that Jesus knew that peter would fail.
He allowed him to walk out anyway
just to show him that he could perform miracles
if he just believed he could.

so many times in life we get caught up in the strengths/weaknesses game
and let someone else take care of something we're not the best at,
and vice versa.

i know adam & i do that.
all the time.

even though i preach the opposite to my dance students all the time!
there are girls who can kick their own heads, jump higher than i am tall, and girls who pick up on concepts easier than others.
if someone standing next to you, in the same class, in the same circumstances,
having the same human experience
can do something amazing...
there is absolutely no reason you can't too.

adam & i pledged to allow each other to try at things
and gracefully fail.
no criticisms, no comments.

we made a visual list {for my house, not unlike this one... and one on adam's chalkboards at his house}
of strengths and weaknesses
and set goals for each other.

it's really hard to admit all of the things you are doing wrong in the relationship!
i learned that i'm not nearly as affectionate as adam is,
and adam is usually the first to worry or think something awful is wrong.

we also made spiritual goals.

when adam & i were long distance
{2,008 miles apart, if we're getting into the number game...},
we would pray together every night.
we would send each other little emails with things we adored & aspired to.
now that we're 7-8 miles apart
that kind of fell away a little...
so we're changing that!

setting goals together put a new kind of confidence in our relationship.
we can both perform miracles we thought were impossible
if we just have a little faith in each other. :)