To Love & To Serve

The classic line in wedding vows is to have and to hold.  As I was sitting in church this morning with my parents and listening to a sermon on marriage, for some reason this idea popped into my mind.  To have and to hold yes, of course, but also to love and to serve.  I looked up the classic vows and they have something similar to that; sounds like a good blog post  :)

I love Steffani from the core of my being.  We’re definitely in the ‘honeymoon phase’ as people call it, and it’s wonderful.  It makes up for a less than stellar actual honeymoon, ask my wife for details about which cruise ship not to take haha Or maybe not as it probably strikes a nerve still to this day.

Anyway, there are many times especially early on that I would pray to God to show me ways to serve Steffani better.  “Lord, show me how to serve Steffani better.”  I’m not sure what I expected to hear back from Him, but the answer I feel like I got certainly wasn’t the answer I expected.  One time in the evening after dinner when I prayed that prayer again I’ll never forget the answer I received.  Now, I’m not one to ever have heard the voice of God, but sometimes I do pick up on ways that He answers.  That particular time I opened my eyes and saw a sink full of dishes.

What?  You want me to serve her better by doing the dishes?  But I already do that!  Like I said, maybe I expected some heroic answer like jumping in front of a bus or something and saving her life.  The answer I got was way more mundane and simple than I had perhaps even hoped for.  “How can I serve my wife better?”  “Do the dishes and chores everyday.”  

We forget that love is sometimes born out of the everyday chores and ways we try and serve our spouses.  It’s not sexy or glamorous like in the movies and TV.  It’s simple acts of love for one another.  I was raised that if someone cooked you dinner the least you could do was wash the dishes.  Most of the time anymore people have dishwashers but we don’t so that’s something simple I can do since Steffani usually cooks.  I’m learning how to cook mind you but she’s still about 100% better at it than I am.

What about you?  In what ways can you serve your spouse better?  What mundane and daily tasks can you take on to show your spouse your love for them?  It won’t be glamorous, but it might just help your marriage along.