Hello faithful blog followers, (all 1 of you)
So, I was out working in the yard, raking leaves actually, and totally procrastinating.
But before I delve into the topic of today's blog, let me just say what I was trying so, so hard not to do.
We have a beautiful back yard, once a blank slate with nothing but odd geographical elevation, weeds and lots and lots of rocks, is now a flourishing oasis. Complete with water feature, custom built deck, arbors, trellises, hot tub, and bbq grill, all enclosed by a huge fence. So, the job, sand and stain the fence. Jason, my darling husband wants the rear section of fence, (all 135 feet), sanded (since he power washed the crap out of it, and it is now all "fuzzy" and the "fuzz" soaks up stain, which is very expensive) and stained. Well, he completed maybe a fifth of it, and then got bogged down in school-work and studying for work related rank stuff. So, since I have yet to start my job, he figured I have all kinds of time on my hands, so I should do it. I can tell you this, after completing several intensive projects this summer, including laying flagstone, putting in a slab of concrete and running the wiring for a hot tub, and then building a deck section to butt up against the hot tub, and then staining the hand-rail of the large deck AND fixing a large 20ft square corner area of the yard and about another 100ft x 3ft of grass repair, lets just say when autumn got here, I was thrilled, thinking "Oh, finally, no more projects! It's finally cold and wet enough to signal the end of the summer-project season. Now time to relax and do indoor things!" Yeahhhh.... NO!!! I guess not. Every semi-nice day we've had so far this fall has been filled with the nagging expectation of MY (not HIS), my working on the fence. Now let it be understood; I love my husband and I totally support and understand his inability to work on the fence. But, truth be told I DO NOT CARE about the fence getting done this year. I am DONE working on projects and totally did/do not want to work on the fence. So, every rainy day, I have in inward celebration for having a legitimate reason not to work on the fence. I will come up with excuses why not to work on the fence. It's too wet, It's too cold, I have to go hang out with your sister (don't get me wrong, I love hanging out with my sister-in-law, but I am way too happy to have that as an excuse) ect...
Lately it's been harder to motivate myself to workout, but today, I was oh, so happy to do so, rather than working on the darned fence. Did you catch that??? I would rather work my butt off exercising and cleaning the house than do the fence. I mean I really do not want to do it!!! So, without getting into it too much more, I did in-fact work on the fence today. I both sanded and stained a 30-plank section of fence, (with a procrastinating break in the middle for raking and hand-picking up the leaves and drinking hot apple cider).
The reason: I love my husband.
Now, I don't want to paint a picture of myself as a "sainted wife" or anything but the truth is, no matter how much I really didn't want to do it and hated the thought of it, and came up with so many excuses why not to, the end result will always be the same. I do things I really don't want to because I love my husband more.
I started the blog out talking about raking leaves, and as I did so (and working on the ****ing fence) I listened to music on my iphone. One of my favorite artists is John Mayer, and one of his songs came on. It's called "home life" and I stopped at one point to listen to the lyrics.
I can tell you this much
I will marry just once
And if it doesn't work out
Give her half of my stuff
It's fine with me
We said eternity
And I will go to my grave
With the life that I gave
Not just some melody line
On a radio wave
It dissipates
And soon evaporates
But home life doesn't change
That is my point-of-view too! The point is, you say "I do", for better or for worse, forsaking all others, and that means yourself. Sigh. I have thought many times of making this point to my husband when he doesn't want to do something that I do, but God turned the finger back at me, and said "What about you, Megan?? Would you forsake yourself and what YOU want for this man I have given you??" Point taken God, point taken.
Even today's devotions pointed to that truth. God wants us to have sincere, obedient hearts. He doesn't care about how things look on the outside, he cares about our attitudes and actions.
Matthew 16:24-27
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up
their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s
glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done. "
I do not mean to say that doing something small like this, honoring my husband I mean, is in any way fulfilling that command in even a small approximation of what God intends for us. But at the very least, in laying down our lives for Christ, we should lovingly serve those we love. Food for thought :))
