Strawberries, but The Berrys

I remember when I first met Brian and he told me his last name he said, "Berry, like strawberry."  If I didn't love strawberries already that would have been enough for me to start loving them.  I want to share an e-mail with you from a dear friend of mine that was sent on June 1, 2004, just six weeks or so before I met Brian. This dear friend of mine died on February 5, 2008, just four months before Brian and I were married. 

"the way i see it is this. how could you want to be with someone who doesn't want to be with you? let me ask you this, if you ate chocolate your whole life and absolutely loved it, but then one day it started tasting bad to you, would you keep eating it just because you always have, or would you maybe try vanilla or strawberry? i think at first you are going to miss the chocolate, but eventually the vanilla and strawberry are going to taste so good that you will wonder why you ever liked chocolate to begin with. what you have to think about is that the strawberries are only going to be ripe for so long and then they are spoiled. do you really want to miss out on them because your upset over some silly chocolate?"

I love that e-mail and have kept it (obviously) in my saved e-mails.  I love that he used strawberries as a metaphor and then I met my perfect Berry and now have two sweet berrys to love. 

And to be angry.  Brian has been working very hard this week with some vice president of pharmacy of the region or something in from Dallas.  And then last night he was in Savannah for a career fair.  I have basically been a single mom this week.  The kids gave me their cold and today learned that Ruth has a mild case of pneumonia.  I have been at my wits end of frustration over lack of following directions and listening.  But, there have been lots of good things too.  Ruth is doing very well potty training (more in another post) and Grayson is starting to hold his own with Ruth. 

I was almost ready to scream bloody murder today when Brian called.  Just hearing his voice and him letting me complain about the kids helped.  Grayson finally feel asleep in my arms and Ruth quit crying in the other room (although it was 45 minutes later before she went to sleep).  Every time I have been upset with the kids this week (and there has been many times) I have been reminded of Skylar Jones.  (see earlier post)  But as the week wore on and my frustration level grew, my cold got worse and I got more tired, that did little to help calm me down.  Thankfully, Brian comes home today, we get to go out of town to a wedding and my friend Candace is coming over to show me her cute goodies that she is selling in her new business. 

God will never give you more than you can handle.  And this week I think I have learned how little that is for me!!!!!