A Little Heart-Check

Remember when you used to be good at encouraging your husband?
Telling him how you prize him? cherish him? adore him?
Remember when you went out of your way to plan for him?
Not only romantic dinners for two, but entire "Celebrate Daddy" events complete with welcome home banners?

I do.

I don't know. Maybe you're still doing it. Maybe I could take a lesson and a nice swift kick in the pants from you. 'Cause somehow in all the busyness of life (lame excuse), I've forgotten to be intentional.

Oh, we tell ourselves they know. they understand. We convince ourselves that there will be time to focus on him later...when the kids are older. when we're not needed quite so much. when we're not so tired.

The truth is, my husband does understand. He's incredibly forbearing and gracious. And perhaps that's why it's easy to non-chalantly slide into a pattern of serving everyone else. meeting all their needs. planning and preparing and sacrificing for them.

But no matter what stage of life we're in---whether our kids are toddlers or teenagers, home or flown the coop---we (and I'm talking to myself here) need to actively plan for and encourage our husbands. We need to verbalize our love and respect and show it in our actions. We need to make sure they know that they are first in our hearts (and not just assume they know that).

Oh, ladies, we have the absolute delight of loving and treasuring our husbands! And somehow, by God's grace, it's a love that grows stronger and more beautiful with every passing year.

"The wise woman remembers she will begin and end as a wife."