Steven Curtis Chapman

You married a college – in our case, a college student who just thought everything you did and said was the funniest, most amazing thing, you know, up to a certain point.

And then things start to change.

And as far as, you know, navigating that is –

Again, it's one of those longing for what, you know, how it used to feel and what it was, and yet also realizing, letting that stuff that you were talking about earlier, the mirror, that's when the mirror comes up.

If you let it, you can either choose contempt and go...

why didn't she get it or try to convince or go into which I've done all of the above try to convince well no but did you get did you really listen to that and get it you have to love this because I'm such a you know people pleaser and I you are the number one you said it if you love me you know everybody else can all I don't care take all the Grammys take the rest of it you know just let my number one you know fan be my number one fan on everything my

And she is.

She is my biggest fan throughout life and yet also my toughest critic.

And I am the artist and the writer and all the things in part that I am because of that because she has been honest and hasn't just, oh, everything you do is amazing and wonderful.

But then the ego that gets bruised and says, well, wait a minute.

What if you don't love that?

Well, you know, and it's that –

Then I think wisdom teaches us, you know, it's never easy to hold the mirror up again and go, what's this – what is this thing that is flaring up in me at that?

It's pride.

It's, you know, it's my ego that is demanding, wait a minute, you have to love this?

Or is it even okay to go, you know, some of the things –

She's not going to love, and there's going to be a joke that she didn't think was funny, but everybody else is going to really think it's funny, and you're going to be able to go.

Both of those things are okay.

Both are okay.

She doesn't have to love everything.