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My “Undevoted” Husband Derails My Spiritual Train of Thought

My “Undevoted” Husband Derails My Spiritual Train of Thought

Last updated on: September 1, 2024 at 6:01 am by Ellen Fannon

My “Undevoted” Husband Derails My Spiritual Train of Thought 2024-07-26T12:02:22-04:00 Ellen Fannon

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Winning the Battle of Inspiration

I had an excellent idea for a devotion the other night, so instead of vegging out in front of the television, I sat down at the computer to put my thoughts on the screen before they disappeared from my head. There is nothing worse than thinking of a perfect devotion, blog, or story plot when you’re somewhere you can’t write down. Of course, I’m always going to “remember” that great idea I had because it was such a great idea—until I go to write. Then it has completely left my brain. So, my fingers worked furiously at the keyboard to get my words out.

Sitting three feet away from me at his computer, Hubby asked, “What are you working on?”

“A devotion,” I told him.

Woman at computer

“Would you please be quiet and let me concentrate?” image courtesy of Pixabay

Only to Lose the War of the Words

I wrote one whole sentence. That’s when Hubby pulled out his cell phone and proceeded to regale me with the report of how much energy our solar panels had produced that day. Not only did he give a complete accounting of the daily energy produced, the energy consumed, and the net energy exported, he went on to detail what appliances had been used that day and how they figured into the equation. Then he pulled up the entire month and described the overall activity and opined that if we continued to have good sunshine through the rest of the electricity billing cycle, we would probably come out ahead this month, compared to last month when the weather was cold and rainy, and we ended up owing money to Florida Power.

I listened with half an ear while trying to capture my thoughts and form them into a semblance of something that made sense. I breathed a silent sigh of relief when I thought he had finished. But no, there was more. Having become curious about the solar panels’ performance, he went on to pull up the weather reports for the next several days and informed me, in detail, about what we could expect. As if I could possibly remember a 37% chance of rain for next Thursday. If I hadn’t been so tired, I could have tuned him out, like I often do when he gets on a roll about something when I’m trying to concentrate on something else. (Please don’t tell him.) But I was just too tired. So, I saved the three sentences I had written without reading them, turned off the computer, got into bed, and picked up my cell phone to set my alarm.

“Oh,” he said. “Was I disturbing your writing?”

“Why would you think your running commentary would derail my train of thought and disturb my writing?” I asked, probably not in the nicest tone of voice.

“I’m sorry. Go back and write. I won’t say another word.”

Man with cellphone

Hubby got into bed and scrolled through his cell phone/image courtesy of Pexels

An Uninspiring Spouse

I don’t know about other writers, but once I’ve realized my efforts are futile and turned off the computer, I’m done. There’s no going back at that point. I would just have to wait until he was at work to try to regroup from where I left off. And to think some women complain because their husbands never talk to them.

I picked up a book. It’s easier to read and tune him out than write and tune him out. Hubby got into bed with his cell phone and scrolled through Facebook. At least, I guess that’s what he was doing. Suddenly, he started laughing out loud.

“What’s so funny?” I asked.

He didn’t answer.

“What’s so funny?” I repeated.

He still didn’t answer. Obviously, he is better at tuning me out than I am at tuning him out. Or maybe he finally decided not to talk to me. Either way, it was just too little too late. Is it unspiritual to want to whack your husband with a pillow? Perhaps I can work that idea into a devotion on self-control.

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