Reason and Adventure

A plaque in my friend’s kitchen reads: “Every so often let your spirit of adventure triumph over good sense.” As I read it, I giggled, because what my husband often says to me, with pleading in his eyes, is essentially an inversion of that sentiment: “Every so often let good sense triumph over your spirit of adventure.”

Like the time I almost missed my flight. Okay, its times…plural. The times I almost missed my flights because something else was much more exciting than getting to the airport on time. I’ve never admitted to my husband that sometimes, as they closed the door of the plane just as I got on board, I was actually a little disappointed that I had made the flight, because missing it would have led to another adventure!

Often I get delayed by inspired ideas that require my immediate attention, unplanned encounters that lead to deep conversations, or spontaneous escapades that lure me away from my original agendas. All of these regularly keep me from arriving at my intended destination until sometime after my scheduled ETA. Cell phones have alleviated much of the worry such detours can induce. David will someday just put a homing device on me and connect it to a satellite GPS system on his cell phone, and let me roam.

On our honeymoon in Hawaii, while on a hike, I stripped down to my altogethers, dove into a cool pool filled by a cascading waterfall, and convinced David to join me. When we heard voices coming through the woods and realized we had no way to dry off and no place to take cover, I bet David began to understand that I find it hard to let good sense triumph.

And how many times has he had to come to my rescue? Well I can’t really count. But he has met me in snowdrifts, paid my traffic tickets, delivered my forgotten necessities, balanced our bank account, packed my suitcases, e-mailed my invoices, programmed my cell phone, and found my keys more times than I care to admit.

David likes to plan ahead. He counts the cost. He thinks first, then jumps. I actually love that about him because I appreciate the stability and safety with which he surrounds me. It is why I can risk. He is my anchor, I am his ship.

This is how the whole missionaries-to-France-thing is even possible. I was swept away by the possibilities, the challenges, and the excitement of moving to France to share our love for Jesus. But GEM would have completely lost me when the 47 pound packet of paper work they called an “application” arrived at our door. David was delighted. He nursed me through the administrative portions, patiently encouraging me to complete each form, sign each document, and fill in every blank. I never could have done it without him. Even now, he is thrilled with the spreadsheets and expense reports. I would have been paralyzed by this part of the process, but David thrives in it.

Isn’t it wonderful that God links us together with another human being who is blessed with such different gifts than we ourselves posses? Sometimes those differences create challenges, but mostly they enable us to successfully overcome them. We need each other, David and I, Reason and Adventure.

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