Your Home Mattersنموونە

Your Home Matters Because Presence Matters

I will be with you always… -John 14:6

Ten years ago a young wife and mom of two very small children made a crucial decision.

Her husband had just begun his intense four-year residency program in a new city. She unpacked all the boxes in their new home, wandered around town looking for the nearest grocery store, researched local pediatricians, and prayed to make a few friends.  He was focused on learning a new routine with doctors and fellow residents.

It was the perfect setup for marriage trouble. Medical residency brings grueling hours and separateness that many marriages do not survive.

This wife was determined, though, that she and her husband would not be all-too-common casualties. She devised a marriage keeping plan.

Presence was her first line of defense.

As many nights as possible, she made dinner. Packed it in a box. Changed two little boys’ diapers. Loaded the car.  Drove to the hospital. Hauled in food balanced precariously atop a double stroller, diaper bag and purse dangling from each shoulder.

Why would she go to all that trouble?

The easier decision would have been to stay home. But those on-call nights when he couldn’t get home, she took home to him.

She wanted her husband to get time with their kids. She wanted her boys to be with their dad. She wanted her husband— and everyone else in that hospital—to know that her man had a wife who cared enough to be present in his world.

Our modern world is so focused on the moment, on individual needs that living for the future, serving each other, and sacrificing for marriage is almost a foreign language.

Didn’t we promise on our wedding day to stay together?

Did your promise sound anything like, “I will be with you forever”? Jesus spoke these words to His disciples before He left for heaven. Jesus’ promise is repeated in the Bible at least 40 times to make sure we get the point: presence matters. Jesus promises His presence to us forever.

You spoke these words the day you solemnly said, “Till death do us part.” Your presence matters in your marriage too, just as much as it did for this young couple.

Your presence is an invaluable gift. Like my daughter (the young wife who took dinner to her husband) I pray you too will be present—in your marriage, with your children, in your home.

May you give yourself generously and sacrificially, knowing your future happiness and your family’s is at stake.

Every woman's home is an expression of who she is-her values, her faith, & her relationships. ... we'd love to have you following along with the blog and praying with us. Visit EverThineHome.com