Wash His Feet, Day 16: Read A Good Marriage Book

Wash His Feet, Day 16:  Read A Good Marriage Book

Have you ever wanted to attend a marriage conference or go on one of those marriage cruises? I know that in the past, I’ve felt bad that Jon and I have never gotten to participate in one of these kinds of events.

Before we get into today’s assignment, I’m going to share a bit of a bombshell here: I don’t think conferences and cruises about marriage are necessary for a happy, Godly marriage. Bigger bombshell: I even think these things can, at times and in certain situations, be detrimental.

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Wash His Feet, Day 15: Help Him

Wash His Feet, Day 15:  Help Him

In the King James Version of Genesis 2:18, we read, “And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.” The term “help meet” isn’t widely used today, but the concept (according to Google) is that God created a helper for Adam who was suitable for him.

I’m rather intrigued by the thought that Eve was specially created by God to be Adam’s suitable helper. And that concept got me thinking: am I helping Jon in the way that God designed and intended me to do? Are you helping your husband in the same way?

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Wash His Feet, Day 14: Support Him In His Interests

Wash His Feet, Day 14:  Support Him In His Interests

Does your husband have a talent for something or a hobby he enjoys? Are you actively encouraging him to use his gifts or to pursue his interests? If not, you should be! This is an excellent way to serve him.

Yesterday, we talked about encouraging our husbands. Today’s assignment builds on that framework: support him in his interests.

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Wash His Feet, Day 13: Encourage Him

Wash His Feet, Day 13:  Encourage Him

We tend to think of women as the ones who need encouragement. Women often experience a wider range of emotions than men do, and so it makes sense that we might need a bit more lifting up when we’re feeling low. There’s nothing wrong with that; it’s how God created us!

But because women often need more encouragement than men, it’s easy to forget that men need to be cheered up and supported occasionally, too. Today’s assignment is to encourage your husband.

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Wash His Feet, Day 12: Clean For Him

Wash His Feet, Day 12:  Clean For Him

Those of you who enjoy organizing and tidying up are going to love today’s assignment! For the rest of us, it might feel like drudgery. Although I enjoy cleaning much more now than I did in the past, it’s never been my favorite thing.

In high school, my room was always a mess. But I figured that once I got to college, I’d keep my dorm room immaculate. When that didn’t happen, I assured myself that when I got married and had my own home, I’d keep it neat as a pin. After that plan failed, I lied to myself that the problem was with the house and not with me; the house was too cold, too old, too dirty, and too lacking in storage space. And while all of those things were true of my first home, the biggest problem was in my bathroom mirror. I just didn’t want to admit it.

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Wash His Feet, Day 11: Honor Him in Front of Others

Wash His Feet, Day 11:  Honor Him in Front of Others

Yesterday, we focused specifically on honoring our husbands in front of our kids. Our little ones are with us day in and day out, and they’re the ones most impacted by how we honor (or don’t) our spouses.

But it’s also vitally important to honor our husbands in front of others, too. We need to think about the way we treat our husbands in front of girlfriends, other couples, and even our inlaws. Are we speaking highly of him and encouraging others to think highly of him for the purpose of building up the Body of Christ? Or are we picking on him, always bringing up his faults, and muttering about our frustrations with him?

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Wash His Feet, Day 10: Honor Him in Front of Your Kids

Wash His Feet, Day 10:  Honor Him in Front of Your Kids

If your children knew nothing about Daddy other than what you say about him in front of them, what would their opinion of him be? Do you tell them about his hard work ethic? Do you point out the many ways in which he serves your family? Do you talk with them about fun little ways to show him how much you appreciate him?

Or do they overhear you telling a girlfriend all the ways you’re frustrated with him? Do you grumble about him under your breath? Do you nag him in front of them when he’s home?

Most of us probably do a bit of both. But today’s assignment is to honor him in front of your kids, a habit that will take time to develop.

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Wash His Feet, Day 9: Listen to Him

Wash His Feet, Day 9:  Listen to Him

Are you a good listener? I’m not. I hate admitting that, but there’s no denying that I’m often so lost in thought that I frequently have to ask others to repeat themselves. While I’m trying to grow in this area, I kind of feel like I’m not making much headway at times! This is definitely an area where I need help.

Learning to listen is a valuable skill. It shows that you’re interested in what others have to say. It’s a small way to show selflessness. And it can be a huge help in communicating well.

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Wash His Feet, Day 8: Develop Respect for Him

Wash His Feet, Day 8:  Develop Respect for Him

Whom do you have respect for in life? Is it a parent, a pastor, a friend? Do you respect your your country’s leader, your teacher, or even a fictional character? There may be several people in your life that you hold in high regard.

It’s good to have people we look up to, who inspire us, and whom we can imitate. But one of the most important people in our lives we should respect is our spouse. And depending on your current relationship with him, this might be an easy thing, or it may take some personal growth on your part.

Whether or not we find it easy to respect our husbands, I’m fairly certain that this is an area where we can all improve.

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Wash His Feet, Day 7: Welcome Him Home

Wash His Feet, Day 7:  Welcome Him Home

After yesterday’s tough challenge to focus on ourselves, today’s will come as a fun and welcome relief! And it’s very simple.

Eagerly and joyfully welcome him home!

What do your kids do when your husband pulls into the driveway after a long day at the office? If they’re anything like mine, they probably stand outside waiting for him, jump up and down when he arrives, and shower him with hugs, kisses, and squeals. They make quite the welcoming committee!

More pointed question: what do you do when your husband arrives after being gone all day? I’m usually putting the finishing touches on dinner or trying put away a few more items in a failed attempt to make the house look nicer. I’m not usually in the midst of the happy clamor that my little welcoming party makes.

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Wash His Feet, Day 6: Focus On Yourself

Wash His Feet, Day 6:  Focus On Yourself

“But I thought we were focusing on our husbands!” you may be thinking after reading today’s post title. Rest assured, we’re not focusing on ourselves in a selfish way!

Today’s assignment is to take a good, hard look at our own shortcomings instead of focusing on those of our husbands. This is not an easy task. It’s never fun to address the sin issues in our own lives when we could distract ourselves by trying to fix other people’s problems.

How often do you take time to inwardly reflect on yourself, taking stock of the areas where you yourself need to change or grow?

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Wash His Feet, Day 5: Read Bible Verses on Marriage

Wash His Feet, Day 5:  Read Bible Verses on Marriage

We’re all probably familiar with most of the Biblical passages on marriage. But when was the last time you sat down to deliberately read through them? Chances are good that it’s been a while - it certainly has for me.

As we seek to serve our husbands with this Wash His Feet challenge, let’s stop and spend time reviewing what God’s Word has to say about marriage and husband/wife roles. And just as important, let’s also consider the areas where we’re doing well and the areas where we could improve.

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Wash His Feet, Day 4: Create A Haven for the Two of You

Wash His Feet, Day 4:  Create A Haven for the Two of You

Yesterday, we talked about prioritizing our husbands. This isn’t always easy to accomplish, but today’s assignment is designed to help:

Create a haven for the two of you.

I’m not talking about an elaborate oasis filled with candles and luxury. But you do need a spot where the kids know not to interrupt you. For most couples, this will likely be your bedroom, but if you have little ones traipsing in and out or have toddlers who like to climb into bed with you, I’d suggest another spot like the couch or car where you can go if you need some kid-free space.

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Wash His Feet, Day 3: Prioritize Him

Wash His Feet, Day 3:  Prioritize Him

How important is your husband to you? Do you value him over your girlfriends? Your mother? Your children?

Do your priorities reflect his importance to you? When planning your day, do you deliberately make time for him just as you do your kids and friends?

Our husbands should be the most important person in our lives, second only to Jesus. But far too often, we don’t give them this distinction. If you’re unsure of your husband’s significance to you, ask yourself these questions:

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Wash His Feet, Day 2: Pray for Him Faithfully

Wash His Feet, Day 2:  Pray for Him Faithfully

Welcome back to the Wash His Feet challenge! Yesterday’s post was all about being thankful for your husband. Today’s is similar: pray for him faithfully!

While we’re developing the habit of thanking God for our husbands, we also need to cultivate the custom of praying for them every day. The Lord has laid a tremendous task on our husbands’ shoulders. They are to love their wives as Christ loves His bride (if you’ve ever been tempted to think that husbands have it easy compared to wives’ command to submit, I encourage you to re-evaluate your thinking!); provide for their families; and raise their children in the admonition of the Lord without exasperating them. Those are some very tall orders, and they need prayer to accomplish them!

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Wash His Feet: 31 Days of Serving Your Spouse (Introduction)

Wash His Feet: 31 Days of Serving Your Spouse (Introduction)

One of my greatest joys as a blogger is getting to pray for my readers. I love it when people reach out to me with prayer requests, because praying for them is something I can do no matter how far away they live!

And as more and more prayer requests come in, I’m noticing a trend.

By far, the topic that people most often request prayer about is for their marriages.

And it really should be no surprise. Marriage, as wonderful as it can be, is the union of two sinners (read: selfish people) trying to live in harmony with one another. It’s naturally going to provide all of us ample opportunity to for refinement in areas we probably didn’t even know were an issue!

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How to Have the Best Homeschool Year Yet

How to Have the Best Homeschool Year Yet

This was going to be THE year, I just knew it.  I had new curriculum ready.  I had studied my textbooks.  I had planned out our schedule.  I had prepared my heart.  (I'm quite taken with the concept of preparedness these days.)  I had gone to bed early the night before our first day; I had my first agenda laid out neatly on the dining room table; and we had homemade muffins ready for breakfast in the morning.

This was going to be the year where everything came together neatly, where we had deep conversations and meaningful interactions.  And I couldn't wait!

I'm sure you all can guess where I'm going with this.  Life rarely goes according to our plans.

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To the Wife Watching Her Husband Slowly Abandoning the Faith

To the Wife Watching Her Husband Slowly Abandoning the Faith

Most Christian wives enter into marriage with excitement, eagerly looking forward to the promise of a beautiful life of faith and devotion to God, strengthened by a strong, believing husband. 

Maybe you were one of them.

Many of us have gotten to enjoy the growing faith and iron-sharpening-iron we envisioned, but for others, sadly, that's not always how the story ends.

While true believers will grow in their faith and deepen their walk with Christ, some wives are facing a completely different, scary reality. 

And maybe you're one of them.

Maybe, instead of seeing your husband's faith blossom, you're watching him slowly abandon the faith.

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Dear Mama Who Feels Like She's Disqualified Herself

Dear Mama Who Feels Like She's Disqualified Herself

Two of the spark plugs were running in the house.  One child was playing harmonica at full volume.  All four were shouting gleefully into walkie talkies that were adding annoying white-noise static to the din.  And I had a headache the size of Texas (not related to the chaotic noise but definitely exacerbated by it).

"Guys!!" I shouted, trying to make myself heard over the clamor.  "CUT!  IT!  OUT!!!!" I roared.

Mama Bear had had enough, thank you very much.

It was only after my explosion that I learned that my neighbor, who had given the kids their walkie talkies, had her own set and was on the frequency chatting away with them.  When I'd blown my top like an explosive volcano, she'd probably heard every angry word.

Yup.

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4 Signs that Your Life Is Unbalanced (And How to Fix it!)

4 Signs that Your Life Is Unbalanced (And How to Fix it!)

I've yet to meet anyone who thinks there is plenty of time to get things done.  Whether you have a day job, a special hobby, or specific ministry, it can be hard to make sure that you're keeping a healthy balance with the various things you need to do every day.  

In fact, as I've worked on my marriage, my parenting, my blog, and my other obligations, more and more, I'm finding I have to work at keeping that healthy balance.  It isn't something that comes together naturally.

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