Wife, Part 3 of 6

So now I’m also a wife. We chose traditional roles for our marriage. To me that means I stay home and run the house and he goes to work to earn the money that makes that happen. Does that mean he doesn’t help out at home, or I don’t offer advice and support for his work? No, it just means I’m in charge of the house and he’s in charge of the work. Ultimately, he is responsible for all of it, as the Bible states, but I am here to help and support. By taking care of all the household tasks I free him to focus on his work. When he’s free to focus on his work, he’s more efficient and has the energy at home to be a good husband.
What are all those tasks? What does a homemaker do? Especially if there are no children to care for...She cleans the house, does the laundry, prepares meals, pays bills, handles household tasks, plans events and activities, keeps the family calendar, buys the gifts, and makes sure the house is a home. The greatest responsibility is ensuring that her husband knows and feels that he is loved and respected. Let’s face it gals, our men are bombarded with negative messages all day long. Confronted with temptations. Met with resistance. Put in situations that cause him to question his value and worth. When we make the home a place he can’t wait to get to, we’ve given him a place to renew his strength to fight all those battles again the next day.
When those things happen all in one day I used to say that Suzy came for a visit. Who? Suzy Homemaker. She paid me a visit today! I’m getting better at taking care of a wider variety of activities each day, but I’ve got a long way to go. I’m learning to be more balanced so that more of those responsibilities are attended to on a regular basis. I recently made a daily and weekly checklist of the things I want to focus on and laminated it for my planner. I can mark things off as I finish, using a dry erase marker, and see my progress. The following week I can wipe it clean and start again. I think seeing what I’m accomplishing will motivate me to keep going. I’m sure you can identify with the feeling that the kitchen just can’t be dirty again-I just finished cleaning it!!