Viva la Difference

"Where to next?" I heard a man say as he and a couple of women were coming out of Belk's store yesterday. "Big Lots, I hope?" he went on. The ladies seemed not to hear him, heading on to another clothing store. He mumbled something, shaking his head as he trailed along behind their energetic chatter. It sounded like, "Man, I wanted to go to Big Lots!"

Sorry, Sir! When women are in shopping mode, they are oblivious to anything ese! I kind of felt sorry for him, though, being dragged along like that. As a rule, men are not shoppers, at least not in the same way women are. If they need something, like a shirt, they go into a store, select one, and buy it. Whereas we women go from store to store, comparative shopping, trying things on, or just "looking around." Rarely is that fun for men.

Of course, if it is of their interest,they can spend hours looking at say, guitars, tools, cars, boats or, in my husband's case, poring over used books. In fact, whenever we go into a museum, memorial library, antique store or even an estate sale, he stops at the first item and remains there studying it while I have quick-scanned everything and am ready to move on.

I must have developed these tendencies during the years of raising a family, when time was of the essence and it seemed I was always in a hurry. But my husband does not get in a hurry. He knows that we will be waiting for him when he is ready.

Last Sunday we had a day honoring mothers. Speakers at churches extolled their virtues, and those at our church read letters to them and/or gave testimony of memories of mother. More was planned for the evening service, and I mentally catalogued my favorite memories of Mama to share, but I was not feeling well and did not go. I did remark that morning, though, with tongue in cheek that "Before long we'll have to go through all of this again for Father's Day!"

Our son, who is a pastor, said, "Mothers Day is when we make the mothers feel good, and Father's Day is when we make the fathers feel bad." It must be that sermons are geared to concentrate on Mom's positive qualities, and are slanted toward the responsibilities of fatherhood for the men.

Genesis 1:27 says, "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them." Both are needed in God's plan, and are made to complement each other. God help those who are forming unnatural unions in the politically correct manner of today. May there always be both a Father's and a Mother's Day!