The Better Gain

The entry from several years ago I will re-write; it is titled "priorities":

I have been trying lately to stay steady with my wifely duty routines following the chores I had written on the chart which I mentioned in the entry “Making Wifely Duties a Routine Habit.”  And I was able to add one thing to a day on my weekly chart this last week.  It was a simple thing.  But the idea of this chore addition was the turning point for realizing that I need to set priorities.  As I thought about it and realized that the absence of this chore is more availing of the time I have, priorities have called that I consider referring to the chart as only a “guide” for now, reading the list with a “grain of salt.”  I am not so bothered if this chore is not a priority.  I felt other things needed me more this week than to bother with the pettiness of doing what I felt I had been compelled to do before.  Cutting out a toilsome obligation has given me a sense of single-mindedness toward what ultimately leads to peace.  This has redeemed so much time, and I have been able to get ideas accomplished more rapidly.  Keeping priorities ahead of me keeps me pressing on toward the peace that I get from having such flexibility.  I may be able to keep up with that chore I added last week for other weeks, but right now, it is not a priority, and other things are calling.

 The re-write.
I notice I wrote about peace and flexibility.  This I realize now is not so important in the physical realm about chores and habits.  It is more important I realize now in the relationship in my marriage with my husband.  I read a book a long time ago about Dreams.  I cannot remember the name of the book or the author, but I do remember the message of the book.  The message was that sometimes a person will have a dream or desire, and God will answer it in a way we do not expect, but He will answer it and give you what you ask, just in a different, surprising way.  The desire of my heart in the first "Priorities" entry was to know and learn flexibility and peace.  At the time I wrote them, I felt I could achieve these through have certain consistent chores and habits.  The best types of peace I know now is through the peace God gives.  I can't control God.  I can't make the peace come my own way.  I realize that through God's way and plan, his commands, I can have peace in my life.  It is simple, not through stressful goals to achieve consistent habits.  No, God looks on the heart.  Do I have a peaceful heart?  Do you?  Your and my heart is revealed through our mouth.  Panic and stress ruled my days a few years ago and most the time my mind, when I didn't talk much, thinking, "I gotta do this... I gotta do that..." Talking kindly to my husband and children and others shows the better heart than a stressed heart from thoughts of having to do lots of things.  Relationships are the most important thing, and if I cannot speak kindly to my husband and children, there is no point, no gain in doing lots of things in a stressful way.  The better gain is kindness out of my mouth. 

Appreciating Trust

On Tuesday, April 12, 2016, I wrote a short entry saying I had been busy since July the year before and had not blogged from about August 2015 to April 2016.  I had said I was going to re-write entries I had written from the beginning of the blog in order to record my latest perspective on the topics.

Here is the entry I am "re-writing":

                 I’ve been thinking lately about the benefits of trusting and submitting to my husband.  A couple weeks ago, I watched a bit of a video in which there was a challenge for men to convince their wives to buy some plain chairs in a furniture store.  The challenge was all set up.  The men knew about it, and the wives did not know.  The men were to just bring their wives into the furniture store, and if they could convince their wives to let them buy these plain chairs, both would win game tickets.  The wives did not know they were being video-taped.  The video showed several different couples at different times, with the same chair display, same set up in the furniture store.  All husbands knew the prize if they could convince their wives to let them buy the chairs—all they had to do was get a response of agreement from their wives.  All men tried.  Some wives were not budging with their negative answers.  Some wives seemed to just look at their husbands in disgust like they couldn’t believe their husbands would want the plain chairs.  Most wives questioned their husband’s judgment. 

But then, for one couple, the husband talked about the chairs as the other men had, and then he asked her to trust him.  She looked at him and said, “Yes.”  That was all that the men running the candid cameras needed to hear, and they made known that the couple should look under the chair seats and find ball game tickets.  It was pretty neat to watch the submissive wife and the winning man get their prize.

            I think if I trust my husband’s judgment, there are blessings and benefits that I don’t even realize before I decide to submit, that will come.

Here's my re-write: 

I still agree with this perspective.  Yes, trusting my husband is very important.  So many benefits and blessings are on the "edge" - ready to bloom - waiting for that "Yes" (I trust you.)  I am glad I am re-reading these entries from a few years ago because as I grow as a person and as a person apart of a marriage, I look back and see the old posts freshly and appreciate the heart of the messages behind them.