Do you support your spouse? Like, really support them?
I think me and Rob support each other. I think we do a really good job.
Rob wanted to move us from Farmville to Hampton for a job right before we got married; I said yes. It's not what I wanted at the time, but I did it with a happy heart. Rob felt led we should pick up and move to Texas after one year of marriage; I was excited. We moved to Texas without jobs and without ever seeing the place. Two years later we moved back to VA, but Rob's new job could only pay him a part-time salary. Why not? 100% more than he made in Texas! The next few years, Rob was pretty chill in the life changing decision categories. Ha. Last year, Rob felt led to leave his job, start a church, sell our house, and hoped we'd get insurance. I was excited. Rob wrote a book this year, which took time and money. I supported him through all of this.
Flip to me. I had a really challenging year during my first year of teaching. I worked all the time and cried often. I wanted to get pregnant, so we had to start seeing doctors and specialists. In my first five years of teaching, I worked in three school districts, in two different states, and different grade levels (I blame him moving me all over the place- jk), which required a lot of change, adjustment, and patience. I got pregnant. I miscarried. I decided I wanted to pursue my Masters in administration to become a principal one day. That meant class at night after working all day, study groups, studying, writing papers, paying for books & courses (at William & Mary nonetheless), etc. We decided to do in-vitro. It was expensive and uncomfortable at times. My hormones and emotions were high. I was on bed rest a lot and we had a lot of scares. I also decided to teach Kindergarten that year- boy did that require some support! I started working part-time so I could be with the twins more. I resigned from teaching last year to be a stay-at-home mom. Just this month I decided to start selling Pampered Chef. Rob supported me through all of this.
Did we jump up and down while clapping during each of these events? Probably not. Did we prayerfully and respectfully support each other? Abso-frickin-lutely. Was it always easy? No. Can we look back and love all of these moments that make our story? Yes. We support each other. We support each other in such a way that we help each other's dreams come true. We don't nag each other or complain about each other's big choices. We don't allow bitterness to creep in when one of us compromises or gives something up to help the other's dream come true. We love living this life together and I think a huge part of it is because we support each other.
When was a time you truly supported your spouse?
