A Glimpse of Family Life

Yesterday we went to a discount store because Hubby wanted to look for some tools. He didn’t find what he was looking for, but on the way out, we were passing through an aisle and I commented, “Oh, look, they have my very favorite kind of candle…” (which, for the record, happens to be Carolina sensual sandalwood) “…but…it seems kind of expensive.” Hubby asked, “Do you want it?” I hesitated because of the price, but didn’t say no, because I could tell that Hubby wanted to bless me. Still, because of my frugal nature, I couldn’t quite bring myself to flat-out say, “Yes, let’s buy it.” Finally, Hubby just picked it up, brought it to a register, and bought it for me. I felt loved and spoiled. I am very grateful that my husband looks out for little things to do for me to make me happy, and I want to make more of an effort to do the same for him. He also installed some shelves in the kitchen today for my cookbooks. The cookbooks resided previously on the bottom shelf of our very small pantry. They were always inconvenient to get to, plus they took up space that could have been better used for food, so it is wonderful now to have them right at eye-level. I am motivated to re-organize (okay, initially organize, since it’s never really been organized since we moved in!) the pantry, now that I have an extra shelf in there for food.

1-year-old (now 16 months) was extremely cranky today. He is teething, plus he is adjusting to being fully weaned (just in the past week; I think he still misses nursing at times), plus he is transitioning from two naps a day to one, and is having trouble falling and staying asleep during the day. Fortunately, he is still sleeping well at night. He usually goes to bed between 6:30-7:00 P.M. and sleeps until around 6:00 A.M. Anyhow, we didn’t feel up to taking him to our house church tonight, so Hubby stayed home with him, fed him dinner, and put him to bed, while I went to church. It was the first time in a couple of months that I have actually been able to not only fellowship with people uninterrupted and undistracted, but also to pay attention during the teaching time (usually I am chasing after 1-year-old and trying to keep him quiet and entertained). It was very refreshing. Caring for an active toddler in a house church where there is no nursery is quite challenging, and it was nice to have a break from that this week. Then I came home (the house where we met tonight was only a couple-minute drive from our house) and Hubby went over for a leadership meeting, so he is getting to be with the church body tonight, too.

Hubby (I feel weird calling him that, but I don’t want to use his real name online, and I haven’t yet thought of a more creative way to refer to him) and I are learning what it means to be “in ministry.” Not necessarily pastoral ministry, but for now, just reaching out to others in our church body and our neighbors. We have a lot to learn, and we have very little experience, but we are both trying to make more of an effort to be intentionally involved in other people’s lives. It doesn’t come especially naturally for either of us, since we are both introverts, plus, we are finding out that the more you invest in people, the more chance you have of getting hurt, but our example is Jesus. We want to imitate His love and compassion, even if we, like He, end up getting hurt. I think Hubby and I are, individually and as a couple, coming to a point in our lives where we are finding it necessary to evaluate what is truly important. Do we serve God or money? Are we living for our own pleasure or to please God?

In all of this, I am learning more of what it means to be my husband’s helper. Wherever God calls him, whatever God calls him to do, that’s my calling, too. I am learning the joy and peace of surrender.