Thank The Lord For Our Spouses This Thanksgiving

Word-Of-The-Day: ‘(28) Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: (29) “Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all.” (30) Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. (31) Honor her for all that her hands have done, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.’  (Proverbs 31:28-31)

It is the day before Thanksgiving, and certainly one of the many blessings the Lord has provided me is my wonderful wife of 43 years. Our children often reach out to her first, often to get a read on how I’ll react to an inquiry they want to make to me, so they can tailor their question for a positive response.

Now they know her better when it comes to food; of course with all things cooking she knows the answer, as I can boil water or microwave popcorn but that’s about it.  My spouse is still known for her days as our church’s Hospitality director and years after retiring she still has folks who come up to her before or after Sunday service who ask when she is opening the church’s cafe back up, or they ask if she still has a recipe for one of their favorite dishes she once served for one of the meals. 

She is the one who first led us to church, back in the early 1990’s.  Our son was a toddler, and we just moved into southwest Florida.  Wanting our son to have a more moral background and to have more kids his age in his life my lovely bride went ‘church-shopping’ before finding a local Baptist church that had a great pre-school and student ministry. The pastor at the time was young and had invigorating messages. 

With her leading the way and, with our young daughter arriving and also attending, this is turn led me to start attending, and as Paul Harvey said, the rest is history. I am not ashamed to say that without her leadership in her desire to better our children by providing them the Biblical morality only found in a Christ-centered church, she and I would not have been led to hear the Gospel message and receiving our Savior’s gift of Salvation. 

My wife is everything Proverbs 31:28-31 says; she’s blessed by her children, she does noble things beyond what others do (in my eyes, the eyes of her kids, and the eyes of our community). She still has all of her beauty and charm and she is to be praised for her Faithfulness.  My spouse is honored and praised to this day for what she has and continues to do.

So, I guess I’ll keep her for another year, as I have for 43 years and counting… Of all the provisions that God has blessed me with, none are better than her – except one, and that’s Jesus! I am certain that without her, none of the other blessings would be as sweet or appreciated – and may not be here if not for her presence.

I’m sure all of you wives are praised by your husbands the same way, and it stands to reason that us husbands are as loved by our wives and are as much of a blessing to our wives as they are to us, though there are times that we try their patience. (It is those times we build their character and vocal cords to be strong; so to those times, I tell my wife, ‘You’re welcome’.)

In this time of Thanksgiving, remember it is not just a day of thanking the Lord for a feast. It should be a day to reflect on all that He has provided, and it should not be just one day to give thanks but it should be everyday that we lift up to Him our gratitude for all He has given us – especially His son, Jesus, so we can gain everlasting life in accepting His gift of Salvation. He is the best provision given to us, and our wives are the next best provision He provides.