Day Fifteen

Let me tell you a merry little Christmas story about my beloved. Do you know Kathleen? She is an amazing woman. But don’t take my word for it, let’s examine the facts.

First of all, she has been married to me for 28 years. 28 years. Think about that. Some people block me on social media so they can avoid my posting about this blog in December. That’s only 25 days and people reach their limit, but Kathleen gets me 24/7 it’s basically a life sentence. Also, Kathleen was perfectly content with her very spiritual focus on the Jesus side of Christmas. I converted her to my pagan ways. We drove around looking at lights and listening to Christmas music tonight. Some of the songs were not even hymns. It’s true. 

Another thing about Kathleen is that she is kind to everyone. I’m going to be in trouble for saying this, but as we left church tonight there was a homeless man sleeping near the church, and Kathleen grabbed a blanket from the car and covered him with it. She didn’t have to do that. He had a sleeping bag and a big blanket over that, but it was cold, and Kathleen gave away a gift she’d acquired for someone else to a stranger.  This is not a big deal, because she is always doing things like this.

I wrote about my house full of boys? Kathleen feeds them. She keeps the pantry stocked with ramen, but then she’ll cook real food if there are hungry people. She’s been known to use her phone to order pizza to be delivered at the house when she isn’t even there, but when she checked in, it was reported that people were hungry at home.  A running joke among our friends is that Kathleen won’t be happy with an end to world hunger, unless she’s the one who gets to feed everyone.  It’s something she is good at, and it’s how she shows her love.

Let me tell you about her teaching Sunday School. She has been teaching 3-6 year olds since she was about 12. All through her time as a child of a missionary, even in to high school. And she’s been doing it since about 2005 or 2006 except for the break when we were in Colorado. She loves those children. She rarely gets upset by their behavior. She recognizes that children behave like children and have their own personalities, and she’s interested in learning about those personalities.   

All of these are just the tip of the iceberg. And yet... tonight... tonight after doing childcare at the church with our littles, then cleaning and organizing our Sunday school room so that when we aren’t there next week the substitutes can find things, then driving around to look at lights, when we finally get home, she drops this bombshell on me.  She asks me if she is selfish.

I mean... Kathleen asked me if SHE was selfish. I don’t even know where to start. Like... what?  I mean... Mother Theresa looks like Regina George compared to Kathleen. I don’t even know where to start on this. Like, what?!?

But then, it gets better.  While I’m still in shock from her question, she says this other thing... “I just know one of these days Pastor Sarah is going to walk by our class and here me say something and decide we have to be fired immediately.”  I almost fell out of the car.  Because let’s be real, if we ever get fired from teaching Sunday school, everyone with half a brain can figure out it will be  because of something *I* said. 

Honestly, I can’t even start to tell you the level of craziness this is. I haven’t laughed this hard in years.  I think I might have rolled a rib. 

Do me a favor? Be easy on yourself and find something to laugh about.