Every once in a while, I hear or see something that reminds me of my father. He’s been gone for more than 15 years, but his memory is still fresh in my mind.
His most famous saying, I remember, was, “You break it, you fix it.”
I’ve been married to wife Martha, The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage, for more than 53 years and that’s also one of her sayings. It’s, of course, easy for her to say since she can fix anything.
Several years ago, the front bumper of my truck was loose. I think one of the bolts had broken off, and I didn’t quite know what to do. I casually mentioned to her about the issue.
That’s all I had to do, and she was out there within 30 minutes, fixing it. I was stunned because I didn’t think it was fixable.
But she took a big paperclip and put it on the place where the bolt had been broken. That was more than five years ago, and it’s still holding fine.
There’s nothing I’ve broken through the years, that Martha hasn’t fixed. And I’m quite certain if I break anything going forward she’ll fix that.
That’s why we have a wonderful marriage. We’re partners in the strictest sense of the word. I don’t do what she can do, and she surely doesn’t do what I can do.
She knows all the builder stores in the area and where they’re located, but I’m not even sure of their names. She also he knows the people who work at them. This knowledge is second only to the thrift stores in the area and their employees.
Last week we were out, and Martha mentioned she needed to stop at one of the building stores to get something for a project she was working on. She knew that store as well as she knew our house.
A customer happened to stop her and asked if she knew the location of some gadget. Martha told her exactly where to go and even recommended the best brand of the item to buy.
It boils down to this: I can break anything, she can fix anything, and I can pay the bill. What more do you need for life to be happy?
After 53 years of marriage, we’ve come to an understanding of our position. When anything is broken, I’m not allowed to touch it. That’s Martha’s responsibility. We accept our situation and respect each other’s strengths and weaknesses.
Our house motto is simple: “I break it, she fixes it.” I thought about a Bible verse to that end.
I do not base my life on my wisdom, rather on God’s wisdom that He gives abundantly to all who believe in Him.
Dr. Snyder is a former pastor who lives with the Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage, wife Martha, in Ocala, Fla. His email is [email protected] “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.”
— James 1: 5-6
