Reason #819
Aaron and I received a daily devotional book over marriage from my old college pastor and his wife when we got married. This was one of the best gifts we received, and we decided that we'd do our best to read through it each night, which went well for the first few months. Life set in, time got away from us, and we fell behind in our reading. Last week, Aaron mentioned that he wanted to pick back up where we left off and be more intentional to read it each day. Oddly enough, I had been thinking about the same thing, and so we agreed that each night before dinner we'd read the devotional for that day. Last night, we were challenged to take extra steps to grow our relationship together with the Lord. We've challenged ourselves to grow a lot of different ways this year, slowly adding one thing at a time. We decided that we would work on memorizing scripture together, and so today Aaron put together a handy little scripture log for us to use so we can stay on track with our desire to grow closer to God. He emailed the log to me at work, and when I opened it my heart swelled for two reasons. First, I really appreciated him taking the initiative to come up with an idea of we could do this. Secondly, I'm a sucker for organized methods.
I used to wonder what it was like to have a husband who loves you like Christ loves the church. What did that look like, anyway? After all, that's a pretty encompassing statement. I wondered what it was like to be married to a man who would lay down his life for yours in an instant. A man who would step in front of you to take a bullet rather than duck down behind you. I wondered what it was like to have a husband who would choose you over any earthly thing. A husband who was always on your side no matter what and placed you before any person or thing, with the exception of the Lord. One who would stand up and fight for you and for your marriage every day. I wondered what it was like to be married to a man who saw you as his responsibility rather than his burden. Someone he got to spend the rest of his days caring for because he "got to," not "had to." A man who desired to provide for you both physically and emotionally because he wanted to, not because he felt obligated. One who would willingly go without to ensure you could have what you needed. What was it like to have a husband who was the leader of your home but led with a servant's heart, rather than prideful expectation, because he understood the magnitude of the calling? To have a husband who shielded his eyes, who refused to look on unclean things, who didn't blend into the work place, who could be trusted in any and every situation, and who was so transparent and accountable so that you could rest assured you were his one and only. What was that like?
It was around this time two years ago that I found myself sitting in a coffee shop with my college minister. He had been so encouraging and helped me really find truth in the midst of confusion. I was kind of at that stage of thinking, "Now that this has really happened, how did this happen? What could I have done to prevent it?" And I'll never forget what he told me. In fact, I've seared it into my brain because it is one of the wisest pieces of advice I have ever received. He said, "Brittnye, I have no doubt that you'll marry a wonderful man and you'll be a great wife. You will have a blessed marriage but know that a man will be a Godly leader not because of anything you've done, it will be because that is who he is. He will be that way before you meet him. It won't be because of your efforts and you won't have to try and change that about him." Women are influential, sometimes more than we know. And while we have an impact on others, it's God who changes their hearts. God is the only one who will make our husbands more Godly. He is the one who will give them pure and faithful hearts with noble, honorable intentions. God will give them the courage and desire to love us and protect us. He will fill them with the wisdom to guide our families and the ability to be great providers. And they'll do it because of their love for the Lord, their desire to please Him, and because that's the heartbeat of a man of God.
Maybe, like me, you wonder if those men exist. They do. Yet Aaron was in love with the Lord long before he was in love with me. He served the Lord for many years before he made a commitment to serve me. And if Aaron were to have married another woman, he would have been the same kind of husband to her that he is to me. It's none of my doing. God began a great work in Aaron long before I came along, and I just praise the Lord for allowing me to be a part of it.
#819 - Because He allowed me to be a part of a great work in Aaron's life.
"I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." - Philippians 1:3-6
I used to wonder what it was like to have a husband who loves you like Christ loves the church. What did that look like, anyway? After all, that's a pretty encompassing statement. I wondered what it was like to be married to a man who would lay down his life for yours in an instant. A man who would step in front of you to take a bullet rather than duck down behind you. I wondered what it was like to have a husband who would choose you over any earthly thing. A husband who was always on your side no matter what and placed you before any person or thing, with the exception of the Lord. One who would stand up and fight for you and for your marriage every day. I wondered what it was like to be married to a man who saw you as his responsibility rather than his burden. Someone he got to spend the rest of his days caring for because he "got to," not "had to." A man who desired to provide for you both physically and emotionally because he wanted to, not because he felt obligated. One who would willingly go without to ensure you could have what you needed. What was it like to have a husband who was the leader of your home but led with a servant's heart, rather than prideful expectation, because he understood the magnitude of the calling? To have a husband who shielded his eyes, who refused to look on unclean things, who didn't blend into the work place, who could be trusted in any and every situation, and who was so transparent and accountable so that you could rest assured you were his one and only. What was that like?
It was around this time two years ago that I found myself sitting in a coffee shop with my college minister. He had been so encouraging and helped me really find truth in the midst of confusion. I was kind of at that stage of thinking, "Now that this has really happened, how did this happen? What could I have done to prevent it?" And I'll never forget what he told me. In fact, I've seared it into my brain because it is one of the wisest pieces of advice I have ever received. He said, "Brittnye, I have no doubt that you'll marry a wonderful man and you'll be a great wife. You will have a blessed marriage but know that a man will be a Godly leader not because of anything you've done, it will be because that is who he is. He will be that way before you meet him. It won't be because of your efforts and you won't have to try and change that about him." Women are influential, sometimes more than we know. And while we have an impact on others, it's God who changes their hearts. God is the only one who will make our husbands more Godly. He is the one who will give them pure and faithful hearts with noble, honorable intentions. God will give them the courage and desire to love us and protect us. He will fill them with the wisdom to guide our families and the ability to be great providers. And they'll do it because of their love for the Lord, their desire to please Him, and because that's the heartbeat of a man of God.
Maybe, like me, you wonder if those men exist. They do. Yet Aaron was in love with the Lord long before he was in love with me. He served the Lord for many years before he made a commitment to serve me. And if Aaron were to have married another woman, he would have been the same kind of husband to her that he is to me. It's none of my doing. God began a great work in Aaron long before I came along, and I just praise the Lord for allowing me to be a part of it.
#819 - Because He allowed me to be a part of a great work in Aaron's life.
"I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." - Philippians 1:3-6