Fix-it Culture

A few weeks ago, I overheard snippets of a beautiful husband-wife conversation. It's stuck with me, even now, weeks later, as such a beautiful picture of what it looks like to love one another well... so I wanted to share it with you:

One of the two was very stressed out, trying to figure out the details for something happening later in the day. They were also deeply concerned about how other people would respond and perceive what they were going to be leading...

The other partner listened well, and affirmed the first's gifts and calling to speak and act, empathized with their struggle, and then said,

"Honey, I love you, but you don't need to be listening to what other people are saying about this. Nor do you need to be talking to me about it and listening to what I have to say. I think you need to take it to Jesus, and ask him, not me or anyone else."

See, I think our instant tendency is to try and solve our friends', our boyfriend/girlfriend's, our spouses', our students', our children's problems. We're a fix-it culture...

But I think the reason that this interchange was so beautiful to me is because it wasn't used as a cop out to neglect engaging... it wasn't an excuse because the spouse didn't have an opinion or know what to say... it was legitimately a redirect from trying to be the answer for the other person to standing alongside them and pointing them to the one who has the answers...

I wonder how our relationships, our ministries, our friendships, our families would change, if we practiced this more often?

"... I think you need to take it to Jesus and I will stand alongside you as you do."