Saturday 11 June 2016

The Responsibility of Wife, According to Dawn



Despite our differing beliefs, David and I often agree on the fundamental elements of a happy, functional, and healthy marriage. (In some surprising ways, at that.)  Most of the core marriage values David presented with Scriptural support I stand behind as well, I just learned them passively from those around me and from my own instinctual, internal compass. These parallels were valuable assets to me as I embarked on the One Way to Grace journey. Had I not been able to find pieces of David's perspective incorporated into such an important part of my own life, my marriage, I'm not sure I would have been able to capture his voice within the experiences included in the memoir.
In the following post, I talk more about the dynamics of my marriage and what I believe it means to be a wife.





I met my husband, Benjamin, when I was 18 years old. We were married at 23, among the first of our friends to do so. I will never forget the day, about two days into our honeymoon, we both looked at each other and experienced the same "A-Ha!" moment. We were married, he had a wife and I had a husband. There's a certain level of inherent responsibility to that title of wife.
I believe that as a wife it is my first priority to care for and protect my husband's happiness, health, and love to the very best of my abilities. David can attest to postponed, shortened, or outright canceled meetings as a result of my husband having an unexpected day off, a gift of time with the person I'd prefer to spend all of my time with. I'm lucky that my chosen line of work allows me to be flexible with my schedule so that it conforms to his, a contributing factor to leaving my last day job. (Another thing I'll never forget is the laugh of disbelief that escaped my previous boss when I said caring for my husband and my home was my happy place.)
Even though the structure of my marriage is an extremely traditional one, some may say it is outmoded, it works for me and my hardworking, ambitious, talented chef husband. (Those who may not know, chefs work long hours on their feet in hot kitchens with fire and sharp knives because the idea of doing anything else is just absurd. It is a career driven forward by sheer force of will and an ethereal understanding of food that allows the Chef to create and recreate stunning culinary experiences....but that's a line of thinking for another posting, back to the topic at hand.)
I truly believe that husbands and wives are intended to be symbiotic creatures, or, better yet, two pieces of a complex perpetual motion machine. Without my husband, I wouldn't be able to function on a day to day basis. Without me, he says he would be just as lost. God brought us together because He knew that not only would we fall in love, He knew that we would join forces toward our common goals and support one another toward our individual goals.
I am blessed to have found this man so early in my life. If asked what advice I would give to those who are still searching, still without a spouse to join them on their journey, I would simply say:
Have faith.


1 comment:

  1. Amen, dear Sister. You and I share the same view of this - as we've discussed on occasion. Marriage and wife-hood are wonderful, gorgeous gifts. :) Well written, well said. :)

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