Marriage, Family, Ministry - My Role, God's Design : Day 2

Ah the joys of dating. The hours days spent consumed with thoughts of that dream guy. That smile, those eyes. Wake up Sleeping Beauty! Yep, just a dream. (By the way, the best of the best is mine!)

I can honestly say I am more than thankful that my days of singleness are over. Choosing a spouse is not a decision to be made lightly. I say that as I think about my "list". That's right, I sat down, pen in hand, as a freshman in college and made a list of all the qualities I wanted in my husband. Some were silly qualities or abilities and some were quite serious. There were a few guys I tried to squeeze into that mold that just were not who God had made me to complement (Genesis 2:18 HCSB). Praise the Lord, I am forgiven and no longer who I used to be.

What does all that have to do with my "topic of the month"? Well, nothing everything!

Read Genesis 24.

As I read this, I discovered something very interesting, something I'd never seen before...a marriage proposal. Not exactly what we're used to but it was unique. See, Abraham spills out to his servant what he was looking for in a wife for his son. Then Abraham sends his servant to find this woman and propose marriage.

And what does this have to do with my role as a wife? Rebekah was Isaac's complement by God's design. One thing stood out in my reading: Respect.

Rebekah treated this foreigner no different than she would have anyone else. She went above and beyond the call of kindness to help this stranger out. She respected her husband by returning with his servant rather than remaining with her family for any length of time. Then Rebekah showed respect by covering her face with her veil. She wasn't out to meet societal norms, please someone else or check something off her list of to do's. She offered to meet a very real need in the life of her husband, and her family before that, by showing respect.

The beauty of it was that in turn Isaac loved her. Not lived with her as a convenience or felt sorry for her and showed her pity. He LOVED her. Did she respect him so that she would be loved in return? Doubtful. She respected him long before she had a chance to see his smile, his eyes. Long before she practiced writing "Mrs. Isaac," so to speak.

My challenge today is to look for ways to respect my husband, not so that he will love me, but so that he knows I love him!