Today has been crazy. After waking at 6:30 to cram in last night’s Bachelor episode before the day’s business set in I was less than intentional about my wifely duties. I spent some time at Starbucks doing a bit of my own Bible study and kicking myself for getting a mocha instead of a caramel macchiato. By the time I got home and fought the traffic I finally met up with some favorites for a morning at the zoo. Clearly this day was not going to be intentional in the wife department. I realized on my home after the animal madness that I still may need to make dinner.
Enter Proverbs 31:15-17
15 She gets up while it is still night; she provides food for her family and portions for her female servants.16 She considers a field and buys it; out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.17 She sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks.
As far as I’m concerned 6:30AM is still night so I’ll go ahead and check off the first half of verse 15. Now my reasoning was less than ideal but, hey, I was awake. K took a nap and off to the kitchen I went to try and round out my awesomeness through following through with the second half of the verse. Actually, I snuck in some Teen Mom 2 (I’m gonna have to start making up more interesting shows. I sound shallow) and began prepping dinner. I had two dinners to make, actually, and was thankful K slept long enough for me to get through most of the cooking. I realized today that my intentionality with my spouse is more than how I interact but how I spend my time. I enjoyed a morning being a great mama, an afternoon vegging and being utterly lazy for some “me” time, and really kicked it into gear so my man wouldn’t have to eat another day of left overs.
There’s so much more to be learned, though. How I use my time during the day not only helps our night’s together as a family but it truly pleases the Lord. I’m thankful that I put on my big girl pants, turned off the TV and simply did my job. Oftentimes I’m sure I’d have told myself “I deserve more me time” and let the leftovers be eaten but the pressure of not cooking tomorrow was totally worth it.
This brings us to verse 16. I’ve been told that a task that should take 15 minutes to complete I do in 14 min 30 sec. This is not a compliment. I pay little attention to detail. Chris is a detail king. Heck, his days are spent doing financial plans and staring at Excel so he has to be meticulous. My mind works more broad spectrum. And random. Somehow I go from thinking about doing laundry to wondering what cute outfit I can make from my already clean clothes to needing paper towels from Target before I finally wonder why in the world I was thinking about whatever happened to Jonathan Taylor Thomas. The point is I have the attention span of a gnat. Or maybe a mongoose. Either way it takes a lot to hold my focus.
Knowing it means a lot to Chris that he come home to a clean kitchen I really made the effort today despite my exhaustion to do it. Granted, the floors weren’t swept or mopped and just about every dish we own was on the counter waiting to be washed but my heart was in the right place. I feel like I live in a world where if I don’t feel like doing something I shouldn’t do it. I’d rather sleep til 9:30 every day than wake up and make breakfast for me and K but unfortunately the last thing I need is my toddler roaming the house unattended so early I rise.
Anyway, bringing this back full circle and to a Biblical ending, day two of IWW wasn’t what I thought it would be. Though I earned “helpmate” status by rinsing and drying the dishes while Chris washed I still feel like there’s more effort that could be put into tomorrow. I’ll scan the rest of Proverbs 31 for inspiration in order to be a joy to my man and hope to make him feel even more blessed to call me his bride.
graceandakitchen 
Really glad you have started to be intentional. I love practical advice from a real person and not someone who gives you a church answer. Right now, practical is what I need. BTW i suck at being a Proverbs 31. I need to get on that, even if I do not think it is deserved. THAT is hard.