Proverbs Friday

Proverbs 4:8

Cherish her, and she will exalt you; embrace her, and she will honor you. (NIV)

Digging Deeper 

Cherish: to hold or treat as dear, feel love for, imply giving affection, care, or shelter to something.

 

Honor: a source of credit or distinction, high respect, as for worth, merit, to show courteous regard for.

I love this verse. I wish all husbands had this verse on a little card in their wallet and they had to read it once a day. More than that I wish children read this verse every day. I can honestly say there are times I do not feel cherished, there are times where my attitude towards my husband or child does not warrant the emotion of embracing them. So often we feel taken for granted. Maybe taken for granted for the things that we do for them such as cooking dinner, the dishes, the wash, cleaning the house.

Often in my house I will ask- “* will you go unload the dishwasher please?”

Response typically from * is “I did it last time, why can’t * do it?”

This past couple of months this response has gotten worse and worse.

I don’t think children and husbands always realize how much we do around our house or that if they would kindly pick up after themselves, their clothes, dishes, and their rooms
that our work would like be cut by ¾ ths.

I love my children and my husband. I love cooking for them and don’t mind cleaning up after them-within reason. I do expect them to respond correctly to my request to unload the dishwasher, change the wash out or clean the bathroom when necessary.
It is good to teach them responsibility and participation in a household.Sometimes that teaching even comes to my husband not just my children.

I love when they actively will do something without my request or without the idea of getting something in return. My daughter is famous for cleaning the bathroom late at night in order to surprise me first thing in the morning. My son is famous for cooking us a breakfast or taking care of some wash. My other son he is more an outdoor kid. He will bring in wood for the fireplace or get me the mail. My husband will wash all the big dishes for me. He is also good at cooking dinner when I don't have a crock pot meal planned and have a quilt to finish up. Those are all things that show me they cherish me that they care. They are very much appreciated.
In return I would just like to say that in order to get respect, feel cherished, feel the embrace back we must also realize their limitations. My children all do have responsibility in our home however their primary job is school, as my husbands is work. When either is overwhelming it is my job to pick up that slack and maybe just maybe take over that chore for that day- sometimes week and/or transfer the job to another child. You really have to work together in order to feel like everyone is pulling their weight and keep things from becoming somewhat hateful in your home. I find that I really do not like arguing and fighting so for me this is a very important reality. In order for it all to work we have to all remember to communicate our needs. Not always so easy.