The Husband of Your Youth

Today is Friday With Friends!  Each Friday for the next few months, I’m going to introduce you to some of my favorite writers.  Each has their own style, and all are worth your read.

Before I introduce my guest, I want to share this link to where I am guest posting today.  Would love for you to come see me!

Now, please enjoy… Rachel Snyder.  Otherwise known as The Lazy Christian.  She is raw.  She speaks truth with great candor.  She calls you out (and she calls herself out, too).  That’s probably why I love her writing so much. Get ready…

I love my husband.

He is really the most incredible person I’ve ever known.  He is smart and talented and godly. Sometimes I wonder how I ended up with such an amazing guy, since my expectations in the husband department were pretty low, honestly.

Then I remember that God picked him out just for me and we’re perfect for each other in every way. We balance each other out, keep each other in line, and, with combined efforts, manage to keep a tidy and productive home running.

My husband is not a bumbling idiot.

I feel so, so bad for women who feel that way about their husbands. I’ve heard several women mention that lately. When I was pregnant with my son and I said my husband was going to give him all his baths, almost all the women I shared that with said, “Oh, please! At the first bath he’ll say, ‘Oh, I don’t know where the towels are! I don’t know where the soap is! Can’t you just do it?’ Mark my words.”

My son is nearly three, and I’ve given him—maybe 15 baths? And those were either because we were traveling without my husband or there was a diaper blowout or other giant mess in the middle of the day that couldn’t wait for my husband to come home.

My husband gives the baths. Every. Single. Bath. So there!

It’s one thing for me to have expectations for my husband—I’m his wife. But sometimes it seems that Women have expectations of Husbands in general. And, for the most part, they expect them to fail and act stupid. Even husbands they don’t know personally are expected to screw up based on the mere fact that they’re Husbands.

Now, few women would admit on an individual level that they expect their husbands to fail. I hope no one wants her husband to fail. But somehow, as a group, Women have succumbed to sitcom stereotypes of what Husbands are capable of doing. Sure, stereotypes come from somewhere and blah blah blah.

I don’t buy it.

Most husbands are not sitcom husbands.

The fact of the matter is that your husband is unique. Just like all of us, he’s got things he’s good at and things he’s not so good at. He needs your support and respect.

I’m not saying my husband is absolutely perfect. He’s not. He’s very set in his routine, which can drive me crazy sometimes, and he stands his ground far too well when I want my own way. But I also wouldn’t tell other women, “Oh, my husband is such a dummy!”

It’s just not true.

And even if it were true, I wouldn’t go around telling people that. There are a couple reasons:

1. It’s really disrespectful. Wives take liberties talking about their husbands because, for all intents and purposes, they’re stuck with them. But would you go around telling people what a dummy your best friend was? No. She’d hear about it and you’d be short a best friend. Your bond with your hubby is a little stronger than that, but it won’t be for long if you talk smack about him.
2. If you have issues with your husband, talk to your husband about them. I understand seeking godly counsel, so if you need to go to your best friend and vent about what your husband just did, you should be doing it with the intent to ask her for guidance on resolving the issue with your husband. Still, the problem should quickly go back to your husband in the spirit of good communication.
3. People will question your judgment. You married him. If he’s such a dummy, what’d you go and do that for?

So any way you slice it, telling people what a dummy your husband is makes you look bad, saying nothing of what it does to your husband’s reputation and ego.

Oh, I should probably mention ego.

The one thing that is true about husbands is that they’re men. Shocking, right? Men have delicate egos. They need to know their wives love them and support them and that they’re doing a good job.

It doesn’t require skywriting and a marching band to tell your husband he did a good job at something. Your actions and your words tell the story. If you believe he’s a bumbling idiot, you’re going to notice him bumbling like an idiot. If you think he’s a fairy tale prince, you’re going to notice all the wonderful, princely things he does.

Try to think of him as the latter and see what happens. A man who is secure in the love of his wife will do a lot of good.

I’m not going to pretend to be some expert on marriage. After all, I’ve only been married six years and we’ve not had all the ups and downs some marriages have.

But I know the man I married—the man I chose.

Proverbs 5:18 says: “May your fountain be blessed and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth.” My husband often says, “I love you. You’re the wife of my youth!” Not sure if he’s being sweet or if he’s just reminding himself that this newly-wrinkled, post-childbearing wife of his is still the girl he married…

I think the concept can apply to our husbands as well. He is the husband of your youth. Both of you will change and grow over the course of your marriage, but he’s still the man you chose.

Be nice to him, especially in front of other people.

And especially in front of me. I’ll call you on it.

Starting now.

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Rachel Snyder lives in Indianapolis with her husband and son. After some time as a freelance journalist and an English teacher, she is now a stay-at-home mom.

During her toddler’s naps, Rachel has maintained her writing through her blog, The Lazy Christian, and the book of the same name. The Lazy Christian book has been in the works for a couple of years, and hopefully this will be the year it gets to a publisher. If she can stop dragging her heels. You know, the whole lazy thing.

You can follow her on Twitter, and don’t forget to check out The Lazy Christian Facebook page.