PRAISING HER - By a Grateful Husband

I was friends with my wife in college before we started dating. When we did finally date, our friendship gave us great chemistry. As time went on, it soon became apparent to me that I was falling in love with my best friend. And so we got married, and had children (two girls) and a dog. We sometimes ask each other if we could have imagined all of this when we think of our college selves. Let’s face it, she probably had it all planned out!

Marriage and parenting is not a walk in the park. Whoever says they are is not being truthful. God is well aware of this. In His Word, he gives us the insight we need to love unconditionally, to count our blessings, to weather the storms of life, and etc.

Did you know that He also tells us to stop and praise our wives? Proverbs 31 tells us that “a good wife is the most precious treasure a man can find!”

In Proverbs 31 there is also a list of all of the things that a godly wife does for her husband and her family that make her truly praiseworthy. There are examples of sacrifice, of provision, of wisdom and of strength. They are acts performed to honor the Lord. And here’s why I’m writing this: I see my wife reflected in these things all of the time. Yet, I have never really told anyone how I feel about her.

I depend on her for so much in life and she never lets me down. Ever. Even on days where life is chaotic, she still manages to have a delicious dinner on the table every night. She is a wonderful mother to our girls, and takes very good care of us all of us.

“She is strong and graceful, as well as cheerful about the future. 

Her words are sensible, and her advice is thoughtful.” 

Proverbs 31:25-26

This is my wife verbatim.
She is the smile to my grumpiness.
She is the common sense to my insane ideas.
She opens my heart to see the world as a place where kindness and love matters.
In these and many other ways she makes me a better man.

If she embodies the ideal wife (which I believe she does), then why aren’t I praising her on a daily basis as God commands? I think as we husbands get comfortable in life, we wrongfully miss the amazing gift that God gives us in our wives. I have spent too many years treating my wife as a good buddy, a co-pilot, a fellow parent, a girlfriend, and not enough as a precious and amazing treasure from God that she is.

So, I will end this way:

“Charm can be deceiving, and beauty fades away (Never! (my edit!)), but a woman who honors the Lord deserves to be praised. Show her respect— praise her in public for what she has done.”

And so with great pride I say to you Meredith, “There are many good women, but you are the best!”

Steve Pihl is a guest contributor and he just wanted the world to know he loves his wife.