Appreciate the hard-working hands of your husband

    Not long ago, I stood over the kitchen sink staring at the dishes piled up. I was worn out, sneezing with watery eyes from a cold, and the kids were in typical fighting mode against one another. I needed help, and I prayed. I didn’t want to nag and get angry like I do some nights.
    Within minutes, God heard my prayer, and my husband Jeremiah began gathering the plates, silverware and glasses from the table and set them on the countertop where I was washing greasy pots and pans. He ordered the kids to take their plates to me. He went for several trips back to gather all that we had from having company over.
    You see, some wisdom my mom passed on to Jeremiah not long after we had our second child was how much she appreciated my dad always clearing the table for her after dinner. It made such a difference (and encouragement) in her clean-up routine. Jeremiah has cleared the table for me most nights since that conversation six years ago.
    I think as wives we could all agree there are many things our husbands do that are often overlooked in the daily, beautiful mess of our ever-changing lives: replacing light bulbs, getting dirty under the car, helping put kids to bed at night, locking the doors, taking out trash, taking care of us financially, assisting with do-it-yourself projects, just getting done what needs to be done and meeting countless other needs.
    But how often do we thank our husbands and affirm them in all that they do, every day? Has having a heart of gratitude become a lifestyle for us?
    It’s easy to point out the negative or what we’d like to see changed in them. It’s easy to nag to death, rather than let the Holy Spirit move in their hearts.
    It takes humility and discipline to build him up with our words, rather than tear down in our stubborn pride. It takes an opening of our blind eyes to see all the blessings that are right smack dab in front of us if we’ll only take time to pause, look and reflect on the beauty of those blessings at our feet.

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