Tax Day

One of my favorite times of year is when my husband and I do our yearly visit to H&R Block to get our taxes done. I know what you must be thinking… Wow! What an exciting life. But really, there is something fun about going with your husband on a “tax date”. It always makes me feel so grown up and mature to sign documents and sit by his side as the lady keys away our information!

Of course one of the reasons why I have always loved tax day is because we have always gotten a good chunk of money back. This year particularly, I had expectations that this tax day would be very good for our upcoming plans for the nursery!

Well. It didn’t quite go like I planned. Towards the end of our appointment, the kind lady looked up and said, “Oh! Well… it looks like you owe this year!” This kind lady didn’t look so kind to me anymore.

As my husband and I walked out of our appointment, he started to discuss how things would need to change in order for us to make up the amount we would need to pay back within a short month. I really started to get frustrated as all my “urgent nursery plans” started to dwindle away. Over lunch, my frustrations grew as my husband and I seemed to be on two totally different planets. I did not want to budge. 

By the time we made it home I was on fire. It was time to lay our restless two year old down for a nap. I went into my closet and I began to cry to the Lord and beg him to show my my heart. I knew something was wrong but I couldn’t lay my finger on it!

I came out of my closet and sat in my chair by my bed and opened God’s word in hopes for some answers. Suddenly it was as if God opened the blinders and shined light right into my heart. I looked up and saw this precious photo of my husband and I holding our baby boy in the hospital. I realized that our most precious blessing came from the two of us being “one”. In order to conceive our child, we had to be “one” physically. What a picture! In order to be blessed, we need to be in UNITY! The Lord wants my husband and I to be in UNITY! I raced through scriptures looking for more about unity and I found this verse that reminded me of our wedding day…

“Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” Genesis 2:24

This verse is repeated at countless weddings. But really think about it. One flesh. Unity. Each of us have a natural tendency to have our own ideas, plans, etc. But when marriage comes in the picture, it’s about joining together. It’s about communicating, considering the other person… it’s all about walking in love. And YOU my friend, can practice this very important thing right where you are at home!

I came to realize that the problem went way back before our tax appointment. It came about when I had plans and expectations for the nursery without really being on the same page with my husband. 

Soon after God revealed this to me I went back to my husband and immediately made this right. I shared with him that I want to sit down and come into unity on our plans, and come to some agreement. This is not about me getting what I want, but it’s about us coming together, in unity, and making plans for the nursery. We also talked about other areas of our marriage where we see we needed to be in unity. 

I really believe it can be so easy to be unaware of how out of "sync" we are with our family members. This situation really raised my awareness. So how in unity are you with your family members? Are there areas in your relationships with your parents where you have expectations that maybe they are unaware of? Like where YOU plan to attend college, what career YOU have in mind, or what YOU want to do this upcoming weekend. Or do your parents have expectations of you that you have not communicated with them on how you feel? This is an excellent time to start practicing communicating to prepare you for your husband one day!

God uses everyday situations (like tax day) to work out the kinks in our relationships and show us what is in our hearts. You can’t put a price on a wonderful learning experience that really grew my husband and I closer together. Coming into unity is more valuable then any tax refund! :)