Quirks

We all have quirks.  Is there an amen to that?  What are quirks?  In a word, they can be defined as idiosyncrasies, such as one who fiddles with an ear lobe while thinking deeply.  Not everyone does that, but to the person who does, it is something they do without thought, almost as if it was a habit.  It doesn't harm anyone, it's just something they do.  It's a quirk.

My wife has a quirk.  She loves a cup of tea in the morning.  That's not the quirk, however.  It's in how she prepares to make the tea that is the quirk.  The process is this:

•  fill the tea kettle, put it on the stove, and turn the burner on high
• run the hot water from the faucet until it is as hot as it will get (takes a few minutes)
• fill the tea cup with the hot water from the spigot
• place the full cup of hot water into the microwave and turn it on for two minutes
• meanwhile, the tea kettle has started to whistle and is left on
• when the microwave stops, the cup is removed, the hot water which was already hot to begin with is dumped into the sink
• tea bag is then dropped into the hot cup and hot boiling water is dumped into the cup
• cup with tea bag is then left on the counter to cool down so it is drinkable

There is a funny thing about quirks....they often defy logic and reason.  They can be very annoying, such as the tea quirk is to me.  And there are some quirks that simply will never, ever change, regardless of how much discussion about them takes place.  An example of that is the tea quirk.  Thus, perhaps quirks can become relationship sores, sores that tend to fester.  In some cases, quirks can be relationship enders if one allows himself to focus more on the quirk than the person.  When that happens, the one focusing more on the quirk has probably forgotten, or doesn't even realize, that he too has quirks that may be annoying the dickens out of the person on the other side of the relationship.

What do you do about the quirks in your relationships as a man, husband, and father?

• do you first look at your own quirks and consider how annoying they may be to others?
• do you judge the other person by their quirks instead of who they really are?  Are you letting their quirks define who they really are?
• would you want others to define you by your quirks?
• what is more important...the quirks (no matter how weird or irrational) or the relationship?

We all need to consider that Jesus certainly dealt with some quirky folks in His time, and some became the twelve apostles.  The example He set was simple....love others unconditionally...quirks and all.

And, yes, I've got some rather annoying quirks myself !