Wash His Feet, Day 20: Let Him Grow
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Note: Today’s post is part of the Write 31 Days challenge. You can find the introduction and links to the posts in this series right here.
A couple of years ago, Jon decided that he wanted to learn to cook. And he wanted me to learn along with him. (That probably gives you an idea of my culinary skills, or, rather, lack thereof. Ahem.) He thought it would be super fun to take one night a week where we would plan out a meal together, watch a zillion Youtube videos on how to prepare it, and give it a try.
It would have been so, so easy to squelch his enthusiasm. I could think of a number of reasons not to pursue this idea. For one, I strongly dislike cooking. We also had limited time and budget for such an endeavor, so I kind of thought, “why even bother?”
But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I just needed to let him grow in this area. And who knew? Maybe if he actually learned to cook (I had no hope for my own improvement), we might get to eat a decent meal every now and again.
It turned out that Jon is actually a great cook when he makes time to prepare something. He doesn’t know some of the basics that I do, like what can and cannot be substituted, but he does an excellent job at combining seasonings and cooking meat until it’s absolutely perfect (two abilities that are severely lacking in my culinary skillset). Although we couldn’t devote a ton of tine or money to this new endeavor, we both had fun and learned some things along the way.
From this experience, I learned how important it is to let your husband grow.
Has your husband ever expressed an interest in doing something that you thought a little extreme or absurd? What was your response? Did you support him with enthusiasm, or were you like me, tempted to shut it down?
I’d encourage you to let your husband grow in whatever area it is he wants to pursue. Yes, he might be bad at it give it up a few months later. Yes, you may need to budget a little for his new interest. And yes, you might need to make some personal sacrifice in order to allow him the freedom to try it out.
The result will be worth it, trust me! By allowing him to grow, you’re showing him respect. You’re offering him support. And you’re giving him the freedom to develop new skills, to stretch his wings, and to be creative.
God designed us to be creative. He designed us to be constantly learning, growing, and expanding our horizons. By letting our husbands grow, we are allowing them to bloom into the people God intended them to be!
