The Wife You Always Wanted To Be

Two weeks ago, we started a new discussion on women and priorities. How do we keep everything in balance, how do we keep from 'going under' with all the demands put upon us? I shared about a time in my life when I needed to take a serious look at how I was prioritizing everything in my life. I categorized my activities by visualizing what shoes I was wearing! I could only wear one pair of shoes at a time and I could only handle one major task at a time, so putting the two together seemed to keep me in balance.
The first week we talked about looking at our feet. If I started each day barefoot...meeting with God and asking for direction, my day had a sense of purpose. The second week I was ready to reach for a sock...to deal with all my issues as a woman and get that in order before I reached out to help others all day long.
So this week...I recall looking into my closet as a young wife trying to decide what shoe would represent my role as a wife. This was a priority I wanted to take on, it was a role I wanted to fulfill with enthusiasm, but somehow with 3 kids, it was not one I put out in front very often. As I envisioned myself putting on shoes, I knew a shoe was not the appropriate covering for my foot just yet. Instead, I chose slippers to represent my role as a wife. My slipper would slow me down before rushing out into the world to conquer all my tasks. My slipper would make me mindful of the soft touch I could bring into my husband's world and it was the slipper that would remind me that I was the only one who had the privilege to wear slippers as I interacted with my husband. This exercise wasn't to be cute or creative, it was to help me pay attention to what I was doing at every minute of the day. If I had on my slippers (or at least imagined I was wearing slippers) as I talked with my husband, I would hopefully talk in a way that was respectful to my husband. I would talk in a tone of voice that would appeal to my husband rather than let anything fly out of my mouth. A slipper put the sacredness back in my relationship and would cause me to talk kinder, touch more often, smile with appreciation and listen with care. Wearing my slippers daily didn't mean I was sexual all the time, it meant that I was giving my husband attention in all areas in a respectful, purposeful way. I was being the kind of wife I wanted to be. The good news? I found when I became very intentional about being a wife who paid attention, showed respect, listened and enjoyed my husband, my husband began acting more like the husband I wanted him to be!
Don't own a pair of slippers? Better stop by Target and pick up a pair as we talk further this week about being a wife amidst all our other obligations. Hopefully, it will slow you down to think about being the wife you always wanted to be.