My husband has taken it upon himself to be my breath police because sometimes I struggle with halitosis.  When in public he may warn me:  “Baby, your breath is really strong.  Be careful when talking to people.”  Isn’t he so nice and helpful?

I’ve tried many products over the years. The latest winner comes with a dual pour spout that allows the 2 solutions from separate sides to mix as poured.  My only complaint was that EVERY time I used it, I would spill it all over the place.  I kept threatening to reach out to the manufacturer, “Can’t you design a bottle that doesn’t spill all over the place?”

Apparently it was really working because I have not received even one citation from the breath police since using this product.

So one day, he said “I think I’m going to give your mouth wash a try.”  Before I could warn him about the flaw in the bottle he had already started pouring.  I noticed he poured it different than me and I was quick to let him know, “You’re doing that wrong.”  But as the words were coming out I was also realizing he didn’t have any spillage.  Because he was doing it right.  I had been pouring it backwards all along.

The malfunction was not in the design of the product. The malfunction was in the user!  It was so simple!  Why had I not realized I was pouring it backwards?  Why had I suffered through it so many times without thinking about flipping the bottle around to pour from the other angle?

Sometimes we just need someone to show us how it is done.

My husband adores me yet sometimes I find myself wanting to complain to the manufacturer:  “God, there is something wrong with him.”  We sometimes have leakage problems.  Instead of love pouring out it looks more like sin in the form of anger, bitterness, or selfishness.

Titus 2 says the older women are to teach the young women the following :

 …to love their husbands
…to love their children
…to be discreet
…to be chaste
…to be homemakers
…to be good
…to be obedient to their own husbands

If the older women are to teach the younger women the above behaviors then clearly they are learned behaviors.  Perhaps like me, you are in need of further development in one or two of the above. I’m closely watching the older (more mature in their faith) women to learn.

Sometimes all we need is having someone go before us and show us how the mouthwash is to be poured!

Who do you have in your life to watch and learn such behaviors?

Copyright©2016, Gloria Stucky

“Beautiful Girl Using Mouthwash. Isolated On White” from FreeDigitalPhotos.net.

Some may say my husband and I sit a little too close in church!  The last thing we want to do is distract others from worship.  But what they may not know, I used to sit alone in the pew.

After I entered into a relationship with Christ I began regular church attendance without my husband. For 4 years I sat in the pew alone!  I sat surrounded by lovely couples who held hands and looked into each other’s eyes; laughed together at the funny stories; even threw the occasional elbow as the pastor made convicting points. The pastor even showed great honor to his own wife.

As the couple in front of me sat shoulder to shoulder and he caressed his arm around her, tears would stream down my cheek because I longed to share worship with my own husband who remained at home. My relationship with Christ was the most important piece of my life and yet I was unable to share this life changing relationship with my husband.  Outside of having his own relationship with Christ he would never understand the magnitude of such worship & the value of corporate worship!

All these years later, having him sit in the pew next to me never grows old!  It serves as a constant reminder of the power of our redeeming God.  Not only, by grace, did He save my soul, He redeemed the soul of my spouse and has allowed two people (neither of us deserving) to experience His redeeming power and the awesome privilege to worship as a couple.  As a result, we can’t help ourselves but be expressive of our love in worship of our Savior.

How can we keep from getting a little too close when we are bound as a couple by the blood of Christ as one flesh!

There may be a day one of us is gone and the other will return to the pew alone.  Until that day, Sunday will remain the most powerful marriage counseling we can attend.

For the single reader who longs to have the pew filled next to her, my heart goes out to you my sweet friend. But today’s blog is for my married friend whose husband chooses to be absent.  You can worship alone with great confidence in the redeeming power of our God.  We are free of burden of criticizing or condemning his absence since we have been given great influence with our behaviors.  He can be won over without your words by your behavior.  When he sees your Savior through your eyes He’s irresistible!

3 Wives, in the same way submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, ² when they see the purity and reverence of your lives.                                               1 Peter 3: 1-2 NIV

I have witnessed the power of living God’s word and watching God draw my husband to Himself.  Thankfully, by God’s grace (definitely not by my own works) I’m not alone in the pew anymore.  I pray and long for the same for you.

Copyright©2016, Gloria Stucky

Image courtesy of “Back View Of Couple Hug And Look Into A Distance. Formal Guy And…” by David Castillo Dominici at FreeDigitalPhotos.net