Wednesday, July 12, 2017

No Scrubs!

What have you done for me lately? I can do bad by myself. I ain't saying I'm a gold digger, but... Got your attention? Good. I want to share something that's been on my heart. Relationships should be mutually beneficial. Even when you give to someone who cannot give what you gave, you receive the blessing of giving. The reciprocal nature of relationships is especially true in courtship, engagement and marriage. Women, one of the things we should find "sexy" is a man's capacity to impart into our lives to upgrade us. Now hear me out. I'm not simply speaking about material things. I'm talking about being supported to fulfill one's potential. Dad demonstrated his love for my mother in this way. My parents will celebrate 50 years of marriage soon. When they married, mom was a CNA. Dad encouraged her to go to nursing school. He drove her to the community college (then known as the "vo-tech") to enroll. She told me that the program was really hard. She wanted to quit MANY times. More than half her class did. She says it was only because of my dad and the grace of God that she graduated. When she wanted to throw in the towel, he'd say "Ginia you can do it. Don't quit. I know it's hard but it'll pay off. Just hang in there a little longer." She listened to him, graduated among the top students, and was one of only two graduates to pass state boards at the first sitting. Not only did Dad speak life over mom, but he also took care of my older brothers (I had not made my grand arrival yet) during his off time and dropped them off and picked them up from the sitter at other times. He made sacrifices to support her and THEIR dream. Dad worked tirelessly and always had a side hustle so mom could focus on being a full time student and not have to work. In fact, even after she began working as a nurse our family continued to live very modestly because dad feels that the household financial responsibilities should be based almost exclusively on his income. He understood his role to provide for his family and "upgrade" his wife. Myles Munroe encouraged husbands to cultivate their wives by telling them "Brothers, let’s rise to the occasion to help our wives bloom and blossom into something much more than they are today that both their inner and outer beauty would continually increase." So sisters as we prayerfully evaluate suitors let's consider their capacity to improve our lives in meaningful ways. It may be spiritually, educationally, financially, physically ( I need to marry a fitness and clean eating fanatic- lol :-) ), etc. Read more about Cultivating Your Life With Your Wife at the following link: https://marriagemissions.com/cultivate-your-wife/