Ten Days of Blessings — Blessing 9: Time with Hubby
Satan works hard to mess up the most precious gifts that God gives to us. Marriage is one of those precious gifts. I have a close friend who is a long-time reader of these Daily Encouragement posts. She was a homeschooling heroine like you through the high school graduation day of each of her three children. Both she and her husband were deeply involved in their children’s lives until one month before their second child’s graduation and two years before their third child graduated. That’s when her husband walked out. When I write about marriage, I try to give her a heads-up, so she can decide ahead of time whether she is up to reading about marriage on that particular day.
I admire single homeschooling mamas. Wow, they are brave. Some — probably a small — percentage of the stories behind why a mama is a single mama are happy stories. A large percentage are tragic. Having a tragic story and homeschooling anyway, like my friend did, makes single homeschooling mamas amazing heroines to me.
So, with the understanding that not everyone who is reading today is married, I’d like to offer some encouragement for those who are. Every married homeschooling mama I’ve known needs encouragement for that journey.
Some married homeschooling mamas have husbands far away today. They are delivering goods on a long distance truck route or taking care of business in Hong Kong or perhaps serving in the military far from home. But for those of you who are able to spend time with your hubby today, I hope you will.
Yes, marriage is worth the work of making it work — so far as it depends on you! A joyful marriage truly is one of the best gifts you can give your children. One crucial ingredient in a joyful marriage is a joyful you.
One temptation homeschooling mamas have to fight is the temptation to be so busy fulfilling that first word homeschooling that they don’t leave enough time for that second word — mama. It’s tempting to be so busy homeschooling that we don’t leave enough time for our husbands either.
So, I hope you will give your husband, your children, and yourself a present today. Spend some time with your hubby. Hold his hand. Speak words of love. Smile with your eyes. And, here’s one more present for both of you. Spend some time chatting — with no talking about homeschooling. Y’all can talk about that another day. How ’bout a one-day moratorium so you can enjoy some of those other important things in your lives? Like each other.
. . . make my joy complete
by being of the same mind,
maintaining the same love,
united in spirit, intent on one purpose.
Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit,
but with humility of mind
regard one another as more important than yourselves;
do not merely look out for your own personal interests,
but also for the interests of others.
Philippians 2:2-4