Lindsay Harrel--Guest Post

My Greatest Adventure: Loving a Lawyer:

By: Lindsay Harrel

First, just wanna say thanks to Jennifer for asking me to guest post. Several months ago, I started seeing this hilarious blogger popping up on several different sites I frequented. On one such site, I saw that she was making a trek through the southwest. I mentioned that I lived in Phoenix and the rest, as they say, is history.

Jennifer and I got the chance to get together this summer (yes, she chose to come when it was BLAZING HOT). We had a great time sharing our stories and our hearts at a Starbucks for several hours. Love this lady! She’s gonna do great things for God with her stories.

***

I’m not a *super* adventurous person. I kind of like to “play it safe.” I like things to be in order. I like to keep a schedule.

To me, adventure is scary, but it has great results, great rewards.

Sometimes, adventure is a one-time event, a trip, something that’s over by a specified date.

But other times, it’s a continuous thing. A constant laying down of security, a battle you face over and over again.

So what’s my greatest adventure?

Well, as you can tell by the title, it’s loving a lawyer.

My husband and I got married when we were 21 (me) and 22 (him). We’d both finished our undergraduate programs, but Mike was taking the LSAT exam when we were engaged. So I went into this marriage knowing he wanted to be a lawyer. And knowing we’d have to get through his law school together.

© Grafphotogpaher | Stock Free Images

One of my biggest fears going into marriage was that my husband wouldn’t have enough time for me, especially since he wanted to be in a profession that is so demanding. Being an attorney takes all of someone. It’s one of those jobs that you can never feel caught up on, and that you never can stop thinking about, even when you’re home.

I knew this, yes. But there’s a difference between knowing it and living it out.

His first year of law school (which started about nine months after we got married), we saw each other for fifteen minutes a day. Dinner time. That was it. I’d work all day, he’d go to school all day, and then he’d study at night.

Then, after graduation, he got a job. (For which I’m so thankful! Seriously.) He’s a government lawyer, so he doesn’t work nearly the hours someone would work at a private firm.  But still, there have been so many times he’s had to work late. Times when I missed him so much and just wanted ten minutes together.

But God’s challenged me lately with something.

I’m supposed to be Mike’s helpmate. That means that my first job in life, after following God’s will, is to help my husband with his mission. I’m supposed to help make him successful. To make his life easier if I can.

I’m not supposed to complain and make him feel guilty when he comes home late for the hundredth time because he had a brief that was due to the court.

I’m not supposed to expect him to take off days on a whim to hang out with me, especially if he’s got a trial calendar approaching.

I’m not supposed to sigh in frustration when he starts talking about work.

Instead, I should love him. Respect him. Remember that in many ways, he’s doing all of this to support me. So that I feel safe. In fact, working hard at his job is one way my husband serves me and shows me he loves me. (And let me just say, my husband shows me this in other ways too. He’s really generous and sweet to me.)

I’m sure this will become even more difficult to remember when I’ve got kids and need a break and he’s not able to help at that moment.

And I know that if it ever became a big enough issue, I have an open door to address it with him. I can talk to him about anything.

But like I said, God’s challenged me about my attitude. I love my husband, respect the job he does and who he is.

And isn’t every adventure a challenge, really?

A challenge that shapes and changes you.

A challenge that makes you better.

The chance to love a lawyer—and not just any lawyer, but Mike Harrel—is an adventure I never deserved, but an adventure I hope to live up to, with God’s help.

Your Turn: Do you sometimes find it hard to look at the effect that attitude can have on your circumstances? What has been your greatest adventure?

Since the age of six, when she wrote the riveting tale “How to Eat Mud Pie,” Lindsay Harrel has passionately engaged the written word as a reader, writer, and editor. She holds a B.A. in Journalism and Mass Communication and an M.A. in English. In her current day job as a curriculum editor for a local university, Lindsay helps others improve their work and hones her skills for her night job—writing inspirational contemporary fiction. Lindsay lives in Phoenix, Arizona, with her husband of five years and two golden retriever puppies in serious need of training.

Blog: http://lindsayharrel.blogspot.com/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/LindsayHarrel

Twitter: @LindsayHarrel: