The Whole Person
I am thankful to have an unusually close family... we play together, work together and live nearby each other. My children are blessed that their aunts, uncles, grandparents and cousins are a daily part of their lives. Family is the most important and precious gift in my life.
Yesterday I called my brother and left a voicemail on his phone. I started out by saying something like, "hey there brother". When I hung up the phone, I turned around to see Reagan staring at me with his mouth hanging open and a shocked look on his face. He said incredulously, "You have a brother?!?! Who's your brother?!?" I laughed and asked him who he thought my brother is.
"Daddy?" Um. definitely not.
"Grandpa?" Pretty sure that's not physically possible.
"ME?!?" Nope. No worries, Son. You are not my brother, nor was I just leaving you a voicemail.
I gave him a few hints until it finally dawned on him. "Uncle Ryan is your brother?!" At this point he collapsed on the floor in a heap of hysterical laughter. I'm not joking. I love when he laughs like that... true, belly laughing, tear jerking, adult-like guffaws. It makes my heart sing. Once he calmed down enough, I also mentioned that I had sisters, and when I explained who they were the whole laughter bit started all over again. The concept was so hard for him to understand, and the whole conversation was highly amusing to both of us. In his world, Uncle Ryan exists solely to be his motorcycle riding, guitar playing, super-cool Uncle.
I was thinking about how often we do this with our relationships. It's easy to view our friends as just who they are when they're with us, or see our parents as just our parents or siblings as just siblings. For me, it's far too easy to see my husband as just my husband. I sometimes forget that he is also a man. A man who loves sports, working in the yard, riding motorcycles and music that gives me headaches. He too quickly becomes the guy who takes out the trash and mows the yard instead of the man I fell in love with who has dreams and desires and is working hard at his career and continuing to discover and develop the gifts that God has given him.
Sometimes it does us well to step back and look at the people in our lives and see them as the whole people that they are and appreciate every part of them, not just the parts that we see on the surface that affect us.
Someday, Reagan will be older and he will see Ryan as the son, brother, servant, hard working, talented man of God that he is.
But for now, I suppose it's ok for him to just be Uncle Ryan.
Yesterday I called my brother and left a voicemail on his phone. I started out by saying something like, "hey there brother". When I hung up the phone, I turned around to see Reagan staring at me with his mouth hanging open and a shocked look on his face. He said incredulously, "You have a brother?!?! Who's your brother?!?" I laughed and asked him who he thought my brother is.
"Daddy?" Um. definitely not.
"Grandpa?" Pretty sure that's not physically possible.
"ME?!?" Nope. No worries, Son. You are not my brother, nor was I just leaving you a voicemail.
I gave him a few hints until it finally dawned on him. "Uncle Ryan is your brother?!" At this point he collapsed on the floor in a heap of hysterical laughter. I'm not joking. I love when he laughs like that... true, belly laughing, tear jerking, adult-like guffaws. It makes my heart sing. Once he calmed down enough, I also mentioned that I had sisters, and when I explained who they were the whole laughter bit started all over again. The concept was so hard for him to understand, and the whole conversation was highly amusing to both of us. In his world, Uncle Ryan exists solely to be his motorcycle riding, guitar playing, super-cool Uncle.
I was thinking about how often we do this with our relationships. It's easy to view our friends as just who they are when they're with us, or see our parents as just our parents or siblings as just siblings. For me, it's far too easy to see my husband as just my husband. I sometimes forget that he is also a man. A man who loves sports, working in the yard, riding motorcycles and music that gives me headaches. He too quickly becomes the guy who takes out the trash and mows the yard instead of the man I fell in love with who has dreams and desires and is working hard at his career and continuing to discover and develop the gifts that God has given him.
Sometimes it does us well to step back and look at the people in our lives and see them as the whole people that they are and appreciate every part of them, not just the parts that we see on the surface that affect us.
Someday, Reagan will be older and he will see Ryan as the son, brother, servant, hard working, talented man of God that he is.
But for now, I suppose it's ok for him to just be Uncle Ryan.
well said.
ReplyDeletei've always loved seeing things from my kids' perspectives. it's easy to miss the wonder of every day things...