Serving your spouse is a high and noble calling

In the early years of my marriage, I often thought about how my husband should serve me. As a strong-willed and determined woman from an early age, it’s taken a lot of wisdom, growth, maturity and lessons learned over our 13 years together to realize the depth of my selfishness. I’d be lying if I told you I’m done learning. I often have to step outside of my comfortable bubble to study his world.

I’ve learned that it’s the little things in our marriage where I can serve him better and take more notice — like ensuring his favorite stainless-steel coffee mug is washed, put away in our coffee cupboard and ready to grab the next morning.

I know it sounds like such a simple act of service, but as someone who also struggles with orderliness, in the past there were numerous times he’d be looking all over the kitchen for his cup but couldn’t find it anywhere.

Was his preferred cup drying in the dish drainer? Was it sparkling clean in the dishwasher? Or was it sitting on the countertop with a tiny rim of yesterday’s cold coffee stuck to the bottom (oh no!)? Sometimes the cup was found, but where on earth was the lid? These were the mysteries he and I had to tackle many mornings among our children and their own altercations.

As you can imagine, he felt frustrated heading out the door to take our kids to school. The morning routine with four young kids is a three-ring circus as it is! I’d even blame things he couldn’t find on our kids. Which, don’t get me wrong, did happen a lot, but not always.

Lately, it’s taken an opening of my eyes to see the pride in my heart. To see my own lack of organization and discipline. I’ve realized I can help him in this area! I don’t need to watch him struggle when I can do something about it, especially if I’m the one who unloaded the dishes.

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