I was so excited when it arrived that I clapped and danced around. What in the world was it? An island for my kitchen. Seriously.
Are you thinking, “You got excited over that?” In my defense, I had wanted one for years. This one is very pretty, it’s portable in that I can roll it to anywhere I need it to be, and it has a top that I can extend out if I need more counter space. In other words, it’s perfect. Of course, I like to show it off when people walk into my kitchen. But my island itself, isn’t what impresses them.
When it arrived, my husband Tim drug the huge, heavy box into the back bedroom. “I’ll have it together in no time.” I dare say you’re thinking what I was thinking. A few minutes into this project, he called out, “Hey, I need your help a minute.”
I took in a deep breath and walked into the bedroom to find pieces and parts of the island lying everywhere. Honestly, it looked as if the box had exploded. Tim was sitting on the floor with the instruction booklet lying in front of him. “Can you look at this?” He pointed to the picture in the instructions. “It isn’t making sense to me.” I looked at it and agreed.
At that point, Tim was trying to attach two of the side panels to each other. But in the instructions, it looked as if the brackets in the picture were not sitting where we could actually attach the panels together. Tim tried sitting the brackets in different places on the panel, but nothing worked. Then I realized it was a matter of perspective. The picture wasn’t showing the brackets after they had been placed on the piece, but how to lay them on the panel before they were attached to it. To this day, I wonder why the instruction writers didn’t include arrows. I don’t know if they wanted it to be a “fun” challenge or if they had a quirky sense of humor.
I stayed and helped. The more we worked, the more I realized the mess was actually very organized in that Tim had all the pieces and parts where he could easily find what he needed. Within a couple of hours, we had completed assembling it. To be honest, I was rather proud of that fact. So, when I show off my new island to people, I like to tell them, “Tim and I put it together in a couple of hours.” Their usual response is, “And your still together?”
“The churches of Asia salute you. Aquila and Priscilla salute you much in the Lord, with the church that is their house.” 1 Corinthians 16:19 (KJV)
Aquila and his wife Priscilla were tentmakers and missionaries who worked alongside Paul. As you read, they even started a church in their home. I think one of the reasons they were so successful is that they worked as a team.
I have often said that Tim and I have always approached life as a team. We work with each other and not against each other. That’s why we were able to assemble the island with no problems. That being said, I do respect him as head of the house. You can do that and still work in harmony. A few extra prayers don’t hurt either.
Brooke Cox is an author, speaker, and storyteller. She was a 2016 Selah Awards Finalist for Debut Novel. Her children’s book: “Dinosaur Eggs,” is now available. It is based on Ephesians 6: The Armor of God. Her novel “Until the Moon Rises: A Conniving Cousin Mystery” is also available. Also, she has two books out in her storytelling series: “Saucy Southern Stories.” The Amazon links for her books may be found on her website: brookecoxstories.com. Please feel free to contact her. She would love to hear from you.