Monday, September 6, 2010

Helpmeet

This post is also available through Sunday Snippets

This is  a common interchange in my house:

"You are a great wife." (Love sees clearly)

"That's because you're the perfect husband." (Love is blind)

I have wondered for a couple of decades now, what makes for the best spouse? And yesterday I figured it out, I think, with some help from Fr. Dwight Longenecker, author and blogger. In one of his books I remember a line like this about saints:

A saint is someone who let God make him into everything God intended for him to be.

Which I have adjusted to:

The best spouse is one that most helps you to let God make you all He intended for you to be.

Which is a good working definition in my household.

Other definitions are welcome.

3 comments:

Kindred Spirit said...

Beautiful couple, beautiful words; may Almighty God continue to bless your beautiful lives together.

Anonymous said...

A preacher I know of said something along the lines of what you said. He remarked (and this is not a verbatim quote, but approximately what he said) that if a husband is not striving to help his wife become Christ-like, then he is just using her. Pretty strong words!

But thanks for that beautiful bit of advice. :-)


Evan

Barb Schoeneberger said...

It's good to see the two of you so dedicated to your vocations. The example of married couples seeking to help one another become more Christlike is so necessary in today's cynical and "me first" world. I think it's also great that the children, especially the boys, are getting your example. The girls can use your example to set the bar for how they want to be treated by men.

I like Evan's comment from the preacher, too.