She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.
—Proverbs 31:27 NIV
IF WE STAY HOME FULL TIME WITH OUR KIDS, THEY are watching nearly everything that we do. While we can never be perfect, we certainly have plenty of opportunities to get it right and demonstrate that Mom and Dad are on the same team. Don’t miss an opportunity to communicate what a good marriage looks like to the next generation.
Meagan sat on the couch and sighed. Of all days for Greg to call from work and ask her to do something for him! And painting was not her favorite household task by any stretch of the imagination. Exhaustion pulled at her limbs, and she found herself reclined on the couch, watching her two oldest boys, ages four and six, build a block tower while the two-year-old finally napped for the afternoon. “I’ll just put my feet up here for a few moments,” she thought.
The radio played in the background as she rested. “Seventy percent chance of rain tomorrow and Friday,” the weatherman reported. “Ugh, if I don’t paint the play set today like Greg wants, it will be the weekend before we get to it,” she thought, remembering the company and plans they had already.
She remembered the verse she’d committed to applying, and she felt herself listening and sensing a desire to do the right thing.
“Okay, guys, let’s take it outside,” she coached the boys as she got up, grabbing the baby monitor in one hand and the bucket of stain in another. “Jeremy, go get Mommy the big paintbrush off the wall behind Daddy’s workbench in the garage, please.”
Meagan spent the next two hours in the backyard brushing stain on the cedar play set. She was surprised to find that once she started working, her energy slowly returned, and she found herself enjoying listening to the boys play cars on the patio. When she was finished, a sense of accomplishment filled her. Greg would be so pleased. She was glad to have the chore out of the way.
When Greg came home from work, she took him into the backyard and just listened to the boys tell her husband what a great job she had done on their play set. Greg acknowledged her efforts.
“I know you hate painting, honey, but I really wanted us to be able to enjoy the weekend without worrying about this, so thanks for doing it.”
Meagan realized she had demonstrated respect for her husband in front of her kids, modeling for them something very important. She also realized she had shown him love in a very tangible way. That opportunity would have been missed had she stayed on the couch!
BOTTOM LINE: God helps us in our relationships, but only when we listen to his still, soft voice. Choose to listen, and your family will benefit!
SO WHAT ABOUT YOU?
1. What chore nags at you that you keep putting off?
2. Go through your house. What room needs the most work right now? Perhaps it is your backyard or the garage. Go to that area now, and make a master list of the tasks you can complete to create order. Put the list in your calendar, and do one item per day until it is completed.
3. If your house is in order, ask God for some other area of your life that needs organizing—maybe it’s your relationships, health activities, or a work project. What, if anything, are you sensing?
So many times, we get caught up in the lie of being too busy. Often we are just making choices to do too much.
Just because it is a good thing doesn’t mean God wants us doing it. Being too busy can make us tired, both emotionally and physically.
Today, your dare includes two items:
• Take fifteen minutes to prayerfully evaluate all the activities in which you are involved. Ask God to reveal which are the ones he has chosen for you to do and which are ones you should not be doing. Figure out how to un-commit yourself, if possible, and contact those involved. Let them know when your involvement will end.
• Today and in the following days, begin the habit of asking your husband on a daily basis for one small thing you can do for him. Then do it.
Pray that God helps you be wise about what you say yes to. Remember that it is often stealing a blessing from someone else when we take a job that we are good at, but not called to do.
Pray, as well, for the opportunity to bless your husband by doing simple things for him on a daily basis.