Time Together

“How beautiful you are my darling, how beautiful you are!”
~Song of Solomon 1:15

“How handsome you are, my beloved, and so pleasant!”
~Song of Solomon 1:16

Dear Molly,

As you continue in your marriage to Ryan, you will find your lives together will fall into an everyday routine of life. For Ryan, his job will consist of daily stresses and pressures of work. For you, as a wife and homemaker, your to-do list will be ongoing and unending. To name a few: laundry will follow a flowing hill-mountain-hill pattern, while bills follow the incoming, outgoing, incoming, outgoing schedule; groceries will continue their disappearing act, while dust and clutter will steadily perform the opposite; the beds will be made and un-made for years to come, as well as the dishes – clean to unclean! The “ebb and flow” battle can be both exhausting and discouraging. I will give you two ways I’ve learned to fight discouragement in the “battle”:

My biggest advice to you personally is to ACCEPT! Accept the truthful statement that “a woman’s work is never done!” (I think that is what God was trying to tell us in Proverbs 31.) Through Christ’s strength and perspective (the secret of Proverbs 31), you can ATTACK your job joyfully without expectation of a finish-line or a reward. Know that God sees your work and He is pleased about the enduring heart-process more than the immediate hand-product. Someday you will cross the finish line, and you will receive a reward for your sacrificial love. Live for that day with great expectation.

Secondly, RETREAT! I encourage you to step out of the everyday routine of life and step into being a bride again. Keep “dating” your husband. When Mac takes me out, I put the laundry down, momentarily postpone the bill writing, forget about the clutter, and ENJOY. My husband is a breath of fresh air to me. He makes me smile; he makes me chuckle; and yes, he makes me belly-laugh. But if I do not “go away” with him, sometimes his sense of humor is not so funny. Instead, it can be quite irritating and untimely if you want the honest truth. (Sticking his finger in my mouth every time I yawn can get rather old, especially if I’ve got my hands in the kitchen sink full of dirty dinner dishes! But, if we have husband-wife time together, I remember this action is only Mac’s peculiar way of “flirting with his girlfriend.” … I realize Ryan may be rather normal – he may scratch your back or play with your hair. I, on the other hand, have accepted the fact that I get poked and jabbed and pinched with love!) Again, my point is, take time away together to reconnect. This will help you come back with renewed strength and perspective to the mountain-hill-mountain phenomena going on in your laundry room.

ACCEPT the high call of being a wife and homemaker and ATTACK with the unending perseverance of Christ. RETREAT on a timely basis with the love of your life and ENJOY your breath of fresh air.

Love, Chris

Let your fountain be blessed, and rejoice in the wife of your youth.
~Proverbs 5:18