One morning last week each boy trickled down one-by-one from his night’s sleep – about fifteen minutes apart, enabling me to spend some rare one-on-one time with each of them. My husband told me once that even when he was old enough to want a little space (ok, a lot of space) from his mom, he would always let her get close to scratch his back. Even though they still want me around every minute of their awake lives, point well taken and tucked down deep in my heart.
So I scratched each back, and prayed for the young girls who will one day marry Jack Tyler, Trey Andrew and Chase Dylan. I prayed specifically, keeping in mind the personality of each boy. Each gift, and each quirk. The evident charming qualities, and, yes, the characteristics that will require much patience and forgiveness from a spouse. And I prayed that they would not take this decision lightly… the biggest decision they will make in their lifetimes, next to surrendering their lives to Jesus.
“A wife of noble character who can find?
She is worth far more than rubies.
Her husband has full confidence in her
and lacks nothing of value.
She brings him good, not harm,
all the days of her life.”
She is worth far more than rubies.
Her husband has full confidence in her
and lacks nothing of value.
She brings him good, not harm,
all the days of her life.”
~Proverbs 31:10-12
Prayer is powerful, but talk can be cheap.
You see, I wonder if many of you, like me, are often guilty of living double lives. While we pray and plead with our sons to one day chase after – and our daughters to one day become – wives of noble character, we often live quite another version of that woman in front of them.
Funny how we can always seem to pull off a cheery smile and a kind word to an acquaintance in the church lobby, yet we’re quick to be impatient and critical of the ones we love the most in the car on the way home. We’re getting good at spending hours creating impressive five course meals to deliver to other families in need, only to rush home, exhausted and grumpy, with barely enough energy to warm up leftovers for our own husbands and children. Some of us busy ourselves, generously serving the church and our communities, volunteering our time to hosts of worthy causes, all the while neglecting the ministry God has given us right in our very own homes.
Is it wrong to bless our neighbors or engage
in activities outside of our homes in an effort to be the hands and
feet of Christ? Of course not. In fact, God’s Word commands it! But
if those activities leave us empty and unable to serve our own families
well, then our priorities are going to have trouble lining up with
Scripture. I don’t know about you, but I want to be found faithful to
the call God has placed on my life to be a wife that my husband can have
full confidence in. I want my children to experience a living example
of a wife of noble character – right before their eyes – so that they
can not only hear my words, but see Jesus in my ways, and witness the
fullness of joy that comes as a result of a life lived in complete
obedience to Him.
I want to turn my eyes away from the distractions of this world, and turn my heart towards my home.
Oh friends, do you know today that
your home is a powerful place of influence that God can use to further
His Kingdom through you and me?! You can make a difference right where
you are!
Sound like an impossible task?
“Jesus looked at them and said,
“With man this is impossible,
but with God all things are possible.”
~Matthew 19:26
2 comments:
So true and spoke right to my heart this morning. Thank you.
Ouch! Especially the part about putting on a smile for an acquaintence and being critical of the ones we love most. Just found your blog and needed this reminder! Our daughter is young but I'm working on better habits now so I can be a better example when she's old enough to understand. Thanks!
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