It's Thanksgiving Day and I'm trying to write early because we are going to stuff ourselves and then decorate Mama's house. It will take us two hours just to get the pumpkins put up with her fall decorations! Friends, I get my love of decorating for the holidays honestly! Mama set the table this morning and put Daddy's place card on top of the turkey looking over the boys' table! Mama is worried it isn't turned towards the television, but we are finally controlling the tv! He would be disappointed that our plans are to watch Christmas Hallmark movies while decorating this afternoon.... and we are going to stand right in front of the tv doing it!
Today, I am still focusing on Joseph... and his role as Mary's husband. While we don't really know much about their relationship, we can confirm that he stayed with Mary even after he planned to leave her quietly... all because of an angel.
The Bible tells us....
Ephesians 5:25: “For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her."
The generation before me treated husbands totally different than we do. Growing up I didn't realize just how much Daddy "let" Mama do for him. He let her fix his plate, take it from the table, and clean the kitchen by herself. He let her pick his socks up from the den floor, pick his underwear up from the bathroom, and iron his clothes every morning after she picked out what he would wear. He let her bring in the groceries by herself, he let her move furniture by herself, and he let her clean the house by herself. He was awesome! HA.... maybe Daddy didn't get that part just right... He wasn't perfect. As I grew older, I would fuss at him for not taking his plate to the sink... I also saw he learned how to get his clothes out of the floor of the bathroom... and I did see him get up once to get a box of dishes from upstairs to bring downstairs.... he fell down the steps and hurt himself and vowed never to go upstairs again... and he didn't... ever. They were my dishes!
I say all this about Daddy because I married a complete opposite in that regard. Many times I thought I married someone like Daddy because he enjoyed being at the golf course, enjoyed being around lots of people and making them laugh, and he loved a good meal... but I won out on the other end of the spectrum.
I laugh and tell Mark that life is so much easier for me now... he looks at me like I'm crazy, but he has completely changed in that he helps more than anything now! He doesn't remember the struggles of when the children were little... fighting in the morning about outfits to wear, making sure Ben had "hot juice" and a tag everywhere we went, making sure Sis's bow was the right color... I honestly think he just jumped in the car and drove us while I did all the other stuff. He didn't clean, he didn't go to the grocery store, he didn't wash clothes, and he didn't see messes. I was used to living with a man like this because Daddy was the same way.
I'm not real sure when things changed, but I am blessed and thankful to have someone now who does laundry, cleans, picks up messes and will attempt to even iron if he needs to! I'd like to think that he changed when he saw this verse in the Bible... Husbands should love us like Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her. Ladies, if you are lucky enough to have a husband who has given up his wants and needs for yours... that's the thing you should be most grateful for today.
I know Butchie wasn't perfect, but I also know he was grateful to have Mama as a wife... she treated him like a king! I'm lucky to have someone who caters to my every need... I'm thankful for him every day... not just Thanksgiving! I'm sure that Mary appreciated Joseph and I'm sure he was the perfect example for a husband. As you look at the Nativity Scene today... be thankful for the husband or man in your life!
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