by Christa Lowe
I’m not going to lie; I’m a little OCD.I spend a little too much time aligning the comforter just so when I make the bed.I need the shower curtain pulled closed immediately after showering.I hate stuff being left out, and I always wash my dishes in a certain order.I can ignore a little dust, but can’t leave the house if I notice a bedroom door not completely shut or a couch cushion askew.I could keep going.Don’t judge!
My husband? He is not quite as OCD as I am.Poor guy, to have to put up with me! But God recently used my OCD tendencies to show me just how much my husband loves me.
Several months ago my husband, Chris, made us breakfast that included toast.Although his toast wasn’t done, he sat me down and ordered me to start eating.(Sweet guy was trying to spoil me!) As I began eating, I watched Chris fish his bread out of the toaster.But before he joined me at the table, Chris unplugged the toaster and put it away.
I couldn’t help but smile—remember? I’m OCD over here.My hubby has probably seen my 100 times of doing the same thing.(I enjoy my meal much more when the appliances I used to fix it are put away.)
In that instant I had a very clear thought that “My husband loves me.” In doing that small, seemingly insignificant act, my husband was saying “I love you.” I came away from that incident deciding that I was going to spend more time looking for the ways my husband tries to show me he loves me.I was going to go on a “My-hubby -loves-me” mission!
For years I have had many “Jesus-loves-me” signs, including sunshine.goldfinches, good parking spaces, etc.On the roughest of days, I could find something showing Jesus’ real love for me.Why not do the same thing in my marriage?
When I started to look, I was amazed at all the ways my husband was showing his love—ways that I often overlooked.After two weeks of leaving the shower curtain wide open, I would go in one morning to find he had closed it.The bed pillows are neatly stacked more often than I
thought.The toaster is neatly tucked away.
There has been rough days in marriage—just like in life.But I have decided that Psalm 27:13 applies to marriage too.“I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.”
WAYS MY HUSBAND SHOWS ME HE LOVES ME!
I’ve decided to see the goodness of my hubby in the land of my marriage.That like Jesus, even though I know my husband loves me because he shows me in very real ways, I’m going to start looking for the everyday “small” things.
• To see my hubby’s love when he puts his shoes away.
• When he brings me my favorite candy bar.
• When he puts his arm around me in church.
• When he lets me hog the sheets.
• When he eats what I cook for dinner without complaint.
I have even started doing something fun.When I notice something Chris has done, I will find him right away, give him a hug and a kiss, and say, “I see you love me, Babe, and I love you too.”
The first time I did this, I received a quizzical look and a “Huh?”
I replied, “You closed the shower curtain.”
He shrugged his shoulders and replied, “Oh, that.”
Yes! Oh, that! My husband loves me, and I know it—I choose to see it and look for it.
I hope that you will decide to do the same.I hope you will decide that when Satan works to distract you—to make you believe you do more, give more, care more—that you will likewise choose Psalm 27:13.It’s so easy in marriage to get caught up on what your spouse isn’t doing and to allow these “undones” to pile up to a point of frustration—even causing you to endure your marriage rather than enjoy your marriage.
Ladies, instead of looking for what he doesn’t do (Honestly, what would happen if our husbands focused on what we WEREN’T doing?), why not decide to join me on my “My-husband-love-me” mission?
