The picture above was taken on the train on the way back. Now, if you know Ben and I you will appreciate the successful smiles on our faces in this picture.
We are not good at trains. We have something of a reputation for missed trains, misreading tickets, having cancellations and generally not ending up at the place we thought we would be at the time we thought we'd be there (though sometimes that's not due to trains). Generally I get annoyed by such instances, especially if they were preventable. I'm a "destination" person - I like the achievement, I like getting it right and often I lose sight of the joy of the journey.
At church on Sunday, this fact about myself was on my mind when I heard a speaker mention Lego. Obviously at church we don't often have people speaking about Lego so my ears pricked up. The man who was speaking confessed to be an A.F.o.L. - Adult Fan of Lego. He talked about how when you're building Lego it's not just fun at the end. It's fun when you're doing the building. It's fun on the way.
It made me think about our marriage. We've got some bricks in place. This weekend we even put the "ability-to-catch-a-train" brick in place. When are we going to be happy?
When we have a house?
When we have a high enough income?
When we have babies?
President Uchtdorf cast some light on this by telling the following story:
"My wife, Harriet, and I love riding our bicycles. It is wonderful to get out and enjoy the beauties of nature. We have certain routes we like to bike, but we don't pay too much attention to how far we go or how fast we travel in comparison with other riders.
However, occasionally I think we should be a bit more competitive. I even think we could get a better time or ride at a higher speed if only we pushed ourselves a little more. And then sometimes I even make the big mistake of mentioning this idea to my wonderful wife.
Her typical reaction to my suggestions of this nature is always very kind, very clear, and very direct. She smiles and says, "Dieter, it's not a race; it's a journey. Enjoy the moment."
When we build Lego, when we go for a bike ride and when we learn together in our marriage we have to enjoy the moment. Sometimes those moments aren't perfect. One of those moments might be the moment we miss trains together, the moment we scrape for money together or the moment we face our trials together. But I need to remember, we need to remember, that life isn't just great when we come through those moments but even in the facing of them.
I know that I need to commit to doing this. It's not about monthly pictures together, it's the process of spending time together to get those pictures.
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