A Day in the Life

Being married to a seminarian is kind of interesting. Though we're both done with our secular education, Sergio has a good job, and I'm making my transition into full-time motherhood, we don't exactly adhere to the "traditional" schedule most families post-university do. And that's great!

The only thing more unpredictable than Sergio's study hours are his sleeping hours. Some days, we eat dinner at 5pm. Some days, dinner is at 10pm. Walking up next to my husband is rare. Sleeping in is even rarer.  "Free time" is less and less of a reality when we're faced with a conviction and desire to make every moment profitable for eternity.

On a Tuesday, his only commitment is his morning classes at the seminary. He doesn't teach at the university or the college. So, today he got home at around 12:45pm and lay down on the couch. He's been asleep ever since. I'll probably let him sleep until early evening.

Last night, he pulled an all-nighter because of a Hebrew test he had at 7:30 this morning.

All-nighters are not the norm, but they are definitely not uncommon. And they do affect me too. I'll use last night as a for-instance.

Around 10pm, I noticed I wasn't feeling all that tired (though by this time, I usually am -- especially with the pregnancy). I asked Sergio if he was going to stay up late and he said he was. So, I decided stay up a bit and read my Bible. Well, I got really into it. Around midnight, Sergio asked me if I was going to bed soon. I told him I still wasn't really feeling tired. I also asked him if staying up with him helped him. He said it did because it didn't make him feel like it was as late as it was. So, I decided to stay up studying a bit longer.

Normally, by midnight, even if I'm not feeling tired, I'll lay in bed until I fall asleep which happens pretty soon after I've made the decision to turn off all the lights. But, considering I wasn't feeling tired, I decided to stay up and read especially knowing that it was an aid to my husband.

By about 1:30 am, I started to feel my brain lagging. My husband was still going in the dining room. I told him I was packing it in and wanted to know how much longer he'd be. (He usually doesn't stay up past that time unless he feels it's really necessary). But he informed me that that night was going to be one of those nights. I decided to sleep on the couch (which is easily seen from the dining room) because I know that him seeing me there helps him feel less tired. He appreciated the gesture.

At 5:30am, he ushered me into the bedroom for a 30 minute power nap on our bed. At 6am, he was up and about to get into the shower. I asked him to wake me up when he was done so that I could make him a good breakfast. I knew that after a night like that, he was going to need a lot in his stomach to get him through the morning. So when he got out of the shower, he woke me up and while he was getting dressed, I made him a breakfast burrito. He ate and was out the door by 7am.

I went straight back to bed until around 11am this morning.

This is definitely not the life I envisioned we'd be living when we got married three years ago. But, I love to see my husband devoted to something he so values and esteems. I love getting opportunity after opportunity to demonstrate how proud I am of him and how much I love to serve him.

Sergio and I don't do things conventionally. We're just not that couple. And that's ok! We're doing what we believe to be God's will for us. Sergio is giving his time and energy to learning how to be a faithful teacher and servant of God's Word. And I am learning that being a wife (and eventually mom) is a 24-hour-a-day job. Sure, there are temptations to complain and grumble. But I once heard a very wise woman say, "If you don't get on board, you're depriving yourself of the joys of the ride."