Pressure Points

Since I was the first to wake up this morning, I quietly tip toed into our home office. Some extra TLC has gone into that room of our house since Ridley moved things from the church office to home. We have built in bookcases in the office and we also had to bring in extra bookcases to hold all of the books he has. I was excited about having my quiet time in the "new office". As I curled up in my red leather chair, I looked around the room and thought about all the scripture in all the books that surrounded me. It was like sitting in the middle of Lifeway Christian Bookstore. There was a sweet feeling of sitting in the middle of God's Word. I got up out of the chair and approached one of the many shelves of books. As my eyes scanned the row, a small little book made its way into my view over all the others. It was about pressure points. I was interested. As I headed back to my chair, I began to flip.

What was going to be a quiet moment, turned into moments of sirens going off in my head. On the first several pages this little book talked about how a marriage can be challenged by pressure points. There were a few pages that had a questionnaire. I played along. It asked the reader to check "any that applied". The topics were things like, "do you have kids?, do you have any recent major changes in your life?, do you help out with aging parents?, do you have financial concerns? are you experiencing health issues?" The list went on and on. What started as a quiet morning was quickly turning into pressure as I read about pressure points. The book went on to encourage the reader to discuss with their mate all the pressure points they were experiencing. Now, I will tell you if there is something on my heart, I want to talk to you right then. I looked at the clock and decided 7:30 a.m. was probably not the best time to wake my sleeping Rid-man to discuss our pressure points.

I sat in my chair and thought back over some memories. I remembered the day that Ridley purposed as we headed out on a beautiful day riding in the little red convertible I had at the time. The breeze was blowing in my hair as we held hands while listening to love songs on the radio. Fast forward a little bit and that sports car quickly gets traded in for an SUV with boxes of tissues, fast food remnants, coupons, stacks of "to do" list and other things that make a wall for holding hands. That's ok, I will stretch to hang on to his hand anytime.

One thing I say quite often in our family is to "hold hands and keep the devil out". If I am praying in a group, I will dart across the room just to hold Ridley's hand. If we are praying at a meal, we all hold hands. If we are sitting on the couch, I am probably holding his hand. I like to share my phrase with other couples. Just last week I was encouraging a couple and as I looked down, I noticed they were holding hands. The tears running down both of their faces were reminders of the pressure we all feel at times. I looked at the husband and told him not to let go of her hand because "it keeps the devil out".

I saved my pressure point discussion for later in the day. I made sure I sat close and held my hubby's hand while we talked and shared. In those moments of pressure in life when things can get heavy and distracting, it is so important to stay close as a couple. I really do find that it helps to stay close by holding hands. It means you are in the same room. It means you are either face to face or side by side and not miles apart. There is nothing that makes me feel more safe and security than when Ridley holds my hand. Pressures can pull people apart by nature so dart across the room, hold hands and keep the devil out!