DAD, we’re looking for the perfect man!” my daughters would cry a few years ago, and I would smile and tell them that there’s no such thing as finding a perfect match, “you create excellence in your relationship with your spouse by the process of give and take!” And to illustrate this I used to tell this story:
A store that sells husbands has just opened, where a woman may go to choose a husband.
Among the instructions at the entrance is a description of how the store operates. You may visit the store only once.
There are six floors and the attributes of the men increase as the shopper ascends the flights.
There is, however, a catch … you may choose any man from a particular floor, or you may choose to go up a floor, but you cannot go back down except to exit the building!
So, a woman goes to the Husband Store to find a husband.
On the first floor the sign on the door reads: Floor 1 – These men have jobs and love the Lord. The second floor sign reads: Floor 2 – These men have jobs, love the Lord, and love kids.
The third floor sign reads: Floor 3 – These men have jobs, love the Lord, love kids, and are extremely good looking.
“Wow,” she thinks, but feels compelled to keep going. She goes to the fourth floor and sign reads: Floor 4 – These men have jobs, love the Lord, love kids, are drop- dead good looking and help with the housework.
“Oh, mercy me!” she exclaims, “I can hardly stand it!”
Still, she goes to the fifth floor and sign reads: Floor 5 – These men have jobs, love the Lord, love kids, are drop- dead gorgeous, help with the housework and have a strong romantic streak.
She is so tempted to stay, but she goes to the sixth floor and the sign reads: Floor 6 – You are visitor 4,363,012 to this floor.
There are no men on this floor. This floor exists solely as proof that you are impossible to please … Thank you for shopping at the Husband Store. Watch your step as you exit the building, and have a nice day!
Even as you laugh, even as you go into the numerous marriage web sites that have come about and advertise perfect men and women, remember what I said that there is no such thing as a perfect match, you create excellence in your relationship with each other by the process of give and take, by adjusting with each other, and more than anything else by building each other up, and then when your friends tell you, you have a wonderful husband or a great wife, you can smile to yourself knowing you helped a lot towards making your own ‘perfect’ match ..!
