You've Got Your Pimples and Your Boils

I know, I know, ewww gross! But bear with me, I've got a point here...

So we are all told not to pop our pimples, or we could make them worse and cause a scar, right? That's because our bodies can take care of the small infection that creates a pimple without interference. On the other hand you have boils. They are too nasty to heal on their own, and must be lanced and drained to be healed. For some reason it's an infection which is too severe for the body to take care of on it's own.

Get to the point, right!?

I know I'm getting to that....

In my marriage, conflicts arise and cause me discomfort. Then what I have to determine is if they are a pimple or a boil. Pimples are the ones that I should let go of and not dwell on, whereas boils need to be discussed and dealt with directly, or they could cause bigger problems later.

Here are some stories to illustrate:
Our family was in the car on the way to visit my sister and her family for the afternoon, and I was driving. Solomon was acting as navigator and giving me directions from a sheet I had printed out online. As we went, Solomon questioned why we went one way instead of another, I said that I had tried a couple of other routes, and wanted to try this one. We talked back and forth about the various routes, and we could have had a real argument about it, I even felt myself start to get cranky about it at one point. I was feeling defensive about the route I had chosen, but I remembered in time, that it really didn't matter, and it wasn't about me, it was just a conversation about directions. So we got where we were going on time, and eventually agreed that this was indeed another way, but probably not the fastest. If I had chosen to pick a fight about it, we would have gotten there, but now we would have had hurt and anger surrounding driving together, a.k.a., a scar.
I managed not to pick that pimple.

On the other hand:
Solomon went back to school this past fall to become a minister, and his first term was VERY demanding! I was working hard to support him in getting all his work done, and therefore, doing all the cooking, cleaning, childcare etc. almost completely on my own. We got very little time together, and as you know if you have read some of my other blog posts, face time or quality time is very important to me! As the term went on, I began to feel more and more overwhelmed, and sad. Loneliness really started to get to me, along with some depression. I struggled through, hoping that things would get better.Eventually the term did end, but the damage was done. I had survived, but not with happiness and goodwill toward Solomon. I was feeling resentful, neglected, and disconnected.
We had a week of a break until the beginning of the next term, and for almost the whole break, I didn't say anything about how I was feeling, mostly because I had become so used to feeling this way that I didn't notice it anymore. But two days before the break was to end, Solomon and I found ourselves sitting at the table next to each other, each working on some electronic device, and not talking. Solomon turned to me and asked if we could talk and put away our technology. I said sure, but then found that I had nothing to talk about. I had forgotten how to talk in those weeks of disconnectedness. Thank the Lord that all our years of hard work on communicating helped us to talk it through, and all my hurt and loneliness and sadness came tumbling out! It didn't fix things all at once, but it did stop the "infection" and began the healing.
That was a boil of pain that would not have healed on it's own, but only grown worse. So it had to be lanced. Solomon lanced it by asking to talk, and by being loving and supportive and not defensive, as I expressed my feelings.

TA DA! Pimples, and Boils....
Gross, but a good analogy... anyway I think so.

Oh yeah and Happy Birthday Solomon! I'm glad I married you. Being your wife is still the best thing about my life. Even after 9 years of marriage, it just keeps getting better. Thanks for asking me. :)