A good different

I might be stating the obvious, but men and women are different.

And we really don't seem to understand each other very well.

I'm not saying no two people of the opposite gender can "get" one another, but, let's be honest, our minds simply function in different ways. And this doesn't seem to change with age.

At the grocery store recently, I overheard a conversation between a little girl and her mother, and I got a little chuckle out of what was said. Mom: "You're gonna be asking a boy to be your Valentine, Lacie. Ooooooh!" Lacie: "No! No! Gross!" Mom: "Sweetie, you need to be nice. Don't talk like that—boys are not gross. They're just...different."

You can say that again.

I accidentally said that out loud as I walked past them, and the mom just looked at me and smiled. We both get that we don't get it.

Then yesterday, while I was finishing my run at the lake, I passed two women walking and heard one say, "What is wrong with guys?!" I accidentally said, "Nothing and everything" as I ran by them (clearly I need to learn to tame my tongue and not butt into people's conversations). I was just adding on an extra half-mile, so I had to turn back around and pass them again, and I was able to hear another comment from the temporary man-hater: "I just don't understand him. What's wrong with me?"

Obviously I didn't get to finish the conversation with these ladies, but I imagine her friend comforted her and assured her that there is nothing wrong with her—he's the one with the problem.

Or maybe he's just not that into her.

Men typically don't carry gold bags.

I think one of the biggest issues is that men and women express themselves differently. And, though we don't always like to admit it, women tend to read into things way more than necessary. He didn't compliment your haircut? Well, he probably didn't even notice it—you only got a trim. He didn't comment on that awesome picture you posted on Instagram? Umm, hello, you put it up during the Cowboys game. He didn't call you first thing Monday morning? He said "sometime next week." He didn't seem interested when you were giving him the latest recap of Pretty Little Liars? How can anyone who doesn't watch that show really be that intrigued? From witnessing many relationships between people around me, it's become quite apparent that guys are not mind readers. At all.

And sometimes women try to be mind readers but aren't very good at it.

Because I really don't think a guy's mind is something that should be read. It might be too scary.

What I think is so wonderful, though, is when two people learn to understand each other simply by letting love rule. I look at my parents and see two people who are completely opposite and probably think the other to be crazy at times. My mom is late everywhere she goes, while my dad is always freakishly early; my dad usually tries to use logic in most situations, while my mom is more of the whimsical, child-at-heart type of person who would rather be hopeful and imaginative; my dad likes to get things done as soon as possible, while my mom is the procrastinator submitting her kindergarten lesson plans at the very last moment; my dad will go hunting with his brother on occasion, while my mom is the one who yelled "Fly away, birds!" as loudly as she could the one time they actually let her tag along for the hunting trip.

I think they stopped trying to understand one another long ago, which actually helps them now to understand each other far too well.

As a high school teacher, I get the great joy of hearing the perspectives of both genders. This confirms my theory even further that guys and girls are wired with different ways of thinking. Again, I don't really want to know what goes on inside the male brain for the most part, but I know the female one pretty well. Are we irrational at times? Sure, but never. Do we overreact? Absolutely, but never. Could we be classified as insane every once in a while? Of course, but never. Are we slightly concerned with things that might not be that important? Maybe, but never.

Though God made us to be completely different people who don't always completely understand the other, He made us specifically for one another. Lacie will eventually learn that, while boys are certainly gross at times, she will grow to love them for the people they are. The woman walking around the lake on a Sunday morning knows that there is nothing wrong with her (or guys, I suppose), and whatever miscommunication or whatever it was she had with some guy is simply that, and she will be just fine.

The great thing is that we have a God who gets every single one of us and still loves us all unconditionally. When you find someone else who thinks you're crazy, irrational, and maybe even slightly insane—yet still loves you just the same—then you've truly got a gem. Kinda like Cory and Topanga.

And then the not understanding just becomes the understood.