His words cut me to the core.
"Who's coming over tonight?" he asked as I put finishing touches on the dessert I'd made for my guys.
The truth is, this wasn't the first time I'd been asked such a question. But it's the first time the words got through my stubborn head.
The boys often saw me preparing full meals and desserts for company. They saw me making and delivering meals and desserts to shut-ins. But truthfully, there was more than one time I delivered a full meal (with dessert) to a family who had a new baby, only to return home to scrounge the cupboards for something to serve up to my own troops. Frozen pizza, anyone? And no, there's no dessert.
Like I said, sometimes I'm stubborn. Sometimes I don't hear. Sometimes it takes a whack upside the head to get my attention and open my eyes. And that's what our son's innocent comment did that day. Suddenly, author Elizabeth George's words rang in my ears with blaring authority:
"Don't give away to others what you have not first given away at home."
Ouch.
The truth is, I knew this in theory. Afterall, it was several years ago I read that quote and the words impacted me. But I was...well, slow...to put them into action. And so when my son was surprised to learn that the homemade dessert really was for us and I wasn't simply whisking it off to some other family, I finally got the message. But yes, I still need reminders from time to time...
I want my husband and our boys to know they have the premier spot in my heart by the way I love, the way I speak, and the way I serve. I want them to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that they come first. And somehow, as only God can so beautifully do, out of the overflow of my love for them, others are blessed, too.
"Train the young women
to love their husbands and children..."
Titus 2:4
Lest I feel like a complete hypocrite... ;)
[Shortly after I posted this entry this afternoon, my husband called and, knowing I'd had a busy day and was actually preparing a meal for friends tonight, offered to bring home pizza! Talk about timing! At first I insisted, "No, no, no! I just wrote about this very thing...I HAVE to make a meal after writing about it! What about my integrity with my blogging friends?" And then I got over it and happily accepted, grateful for the love and balance we share, and hoping my blogging friends will understand. Just thought you should know...]
5 comments:
This is something I think about a lot, it is so hard to balance everything, and you're right, family needs to be on the heavy side of the scale. But whats funny is this week I took a meal to a family, to make a long story short, I had planned to split everything in half, but that didn't work out, exactly, so our family had ribs for dinner... just ribs. By the time Steve came home from church late that night, I had found some baked beans in the back of the pantry, he didn't know the difference and was happy as a lark:)
Ooops, i didn't mean for that to be anonymous....this is all still a bit new to me.
Unfortunately, I struggle with this too. :( In so many areas it seems that our family often gets the short end of the stick. From meals or helping others even to how our attitudes differ.
Regarding dessert -- not having dessert for your family with a meal is okay! Dessert is not good for you! :)-
So sweet of Jon to think of you!
Enjoy your weekend!
Amy
What a sweet gift from your dh. And I understand where you are coming from Nikki. And like you, I really appreciate Elizabeth George.
My family is always excited when I'm making a meal for another family, because I make enough for us too. That's about the only time the meal is complete, w/ a dessert. Hmm, need to rethink that one!
Love the quote. I'm going to post it nearby so I have a reminder where my priorities lie.
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