Saturday, January 30, 2010

Welcome Home!

"Welcome home." Yep!.....it sounded just like something June Cleaver from 'Leave it to Beaver' would say, or something Laura Petrie would say to her husband Rob from the Dick Van Dyke show, or something I Dream of Jeanie would say to her master. You get my drift! One evening last week, after I ran down the stairs to greet my husband hello with a kiss, after he had had a hard day at work, and I asked him how his day was, then out of nowhere came, 'Welcome home'. I said that! How corny is that?!!! I didn't plan it. I hadn't prayed about it. But, I must admit, it actually felt good after I said it and I think my husband liked hearing it though it was obvious that he was as surprised to hear it as I was surprised to say it. See, what had happened was......a couple of weeks ago I went to this website called 'www.habitforge.com' where you can plug in any new habit you want to create, and for 21 days you will receive a daily e-mail asking you if you achieved the task. The new habit I want to create is 'Stopping whatever I'm doing when my husband comes home from work and going to greet him'. (I'm absolutely horrible at this.) So, now, every day I get an e-mail that says ' Did you succeed yesterday at stopping whatever you were doing to greet your husband when he came home from work?' Well, that competitive side of me, wants to be able to answer 'YES' to that question every day. I want to win! So far I have been able to say, Yes, every day, and by the sound of my 'unexpected' "Welcome Home" invitation to my husband, something must be happening on the inside that I had no idea would happen. Isn't that just like God?! All He needs is a 'Yes' in our spirit, and a step of obedience as we walk in faith, and then He will help us right where we are; where ever we need him. What if I stopped doing what I was doing to greet my husband each day simply because it is what he needs and because it makes him feel good RATHER than just so I could be able to say 'YES' when I receive the e-mail asking me if I achieved my goal for that day? What if I stopped doing what I was doing to greet my husband each day simply because I wanted to? WHAT A CONCEPT! The creators of the 'habitforge' website are basing their concept on the belief that all it takes is 21 days of consistently doing something to create a new habit. I'll see what happens after the 21 days are over. Without an e-mail to check up on me, will I or won't I continue to stop what I'm doing and greet my husband when he comes home from work daily? I believe that my corny 'Welcome Home' salutation is a sign that I can be confident that He who started a good work in me, will perform it. How about you? Are there any areas of respect, honor, and/or encouragement for your husband that you need a daily reminder of? Try www.habitforge.com and join me in letting God use this tool to help us be the wives that our husbands need.

1 comment:

  1. I believe we all agree with Chandra on how great this assignment was. It took us back to the early days as to why we married our husbands, why we love and respect them. I thank God that he will continue to bless our marriages as we continue to be obedient to him. Thank you Dale for allowing God to use you in such a way that helps us to grow in our respect and love for our husbands.

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