S.O.S.

My hubby and I have been going to a Sunday School class about marriage. Our teachers are so awesome. They share their experiences from a 25 year marriage and they share them with humor. They also don't sugarcoat their married life and they tell the real life stories about their journey.

One thing that struck me at the last class was a talk about selfishness. You have probably heard the saying J.O.Y.......Jesus, Others, You.... but have you heard S.O.S.?????? Spouse, Others, Spouse.... meaning putting your spouse first before you. This just says it all and boy, is it hard sometimes!!!

When my hubby and I got married, we had both been on our own for a long time. I was 35 and he was 37. And since we were both living a "worldly" life, the I or me, me, me was the most important thing in our life. We looked out for ourselves, we supported ourselves, we wanted what was best for ourselves.....the list could go on and on.

Raised in a world about "me" with all the self help gurus was not the best learning experience for marriage. We jumped in to marriage as Christians but not as "born again" believers. We made it 7 years without God as a priority and now with God, an additional 2 years but has it taken some major changes on our part and we are still learning and changing.

We are now "born again" believers which had helped us tremendously in ways I can't begin to list. The last 3 months since we were baptized together have been so much better because we are prioritizing our life with God first! We continually change as we learn what God wants and our selfishness has been the first thing that we each work on daily.

I have been doing a lot of reading about Proverbs 31. I had no idea. I mean really, I had NO idea. I didn't know how God wanted me to act as a wife. I didn't know there was even a lesson about being a wife in the Bible. Like I said, I had no idea.

I remember my dad always asking my sister if she had supper on the table for her husband when he got home because she was a stay at home mom. This used to just "tick" me off to say it not so nicely. I couldn't believe my dad expected my sister to have supper ready when she had four kids to take care of all day. What in the world was he thinking????

Funny how times change with a little Christian education. I now try my hardest, even if I am having a Fibro flare, to have supper on the table when my hubby walks in the door. It not only makes my hubby feel like I am taking care of him but it also makes me feel like I am fulfilling my God given duty as a wife.

And selfishly -ha, ha, it also makes our evenings go better because my hubby has this habit of not eating all day....to save his girlish figure...( LOL ) and he is sometimes a bit cranky after starving himself. If I have supper on the table then he is not cranky and we all have a better night. Oh, that was the selfish reason.

Really, I just want my hubby to know that I love him, cherish him, and want to take care of him by this little act of kindness.

This is just one of the lessons I am learning about selfishness. I have so many and I have so many more to learn. I am just taking it one day at a time and trying my best to do as God is directing me. If I take one thing away from our Sunday school class then S.O.S. would be it. I just never thought of it this way. Put my spouse first in all things, pray for an unselfish heart, and ask for forgiveness from my hubby and from God if Satan sneaks in and gives me a selfish heart.

Do you live by S.O.S? Do you have ways that you put your hubby first that we can all learn by? Leave me a comment and tell me your thoughts. Also, read Proverbs 31 and really think about how important your job as a Wife and Mother and Homemaker is to God!

Have a blessed and pain free day! K.