Wives. 

We Christian folk, we like to talk about mommies.  We love them.  We cherish them.  We idealize them.  Mommies are awesome. 

But I wish to take a a moment to discuss wives.  Ya know, wives.  The better half.  The ball and chain.  The….well, ya know.  All those things.

But the good wife, she is so much more than that.  There is not any possible way to describe what a good wife means to a husband.  Words do not suffice. Until now.

Here is me, keepin’ it real. 

The good wife….

She forgives.  Wives routinely forgive amazing acts of selfishness. (Forgetting is a whole ‘nother thing. 1992 is as real to them as yesterday.)

When you’re mowing the lawn in August and you turn the corner, she is standing there with iced tea and right then you have no doubt that you are the luckiest man in the world.

When you come home from a business trip on Friday night, she is the one who mowed the lawn for you, even though you asked her not to.

They are the weaker sex without whom the world would crumble.  They are the tiny creature holding up the whole world.  They are Atlas.

They always wanna talk when we really don’t feel like it. Which is, honestly,  most of the time.  But still…

Every day they teach.  They teach little babies how to pray and big babies how to love.  I can’t think of any better definition of vocation.

The good wife cries.  They cry over things that don’t matter.  Commercials. Sad movies. My cleaning habits.

The good wife cries.  They cry over things that really matter.  Babies being born.  Babies not being born and their mommies.

They are the weakest, toughest, and most perplexing creatures who ever lived. 

Your average wife treats a messy house like it’s the end of the world and cancer like it is no big thing.  You know they are wrong, but they seem so right.

The good wife hates gossip.  But did you hear about that woman around the corner?

The good wife defers on the small things.

The good wife determines what are the small things.

The good wife makes you forget every old girlfriend, now.

The good wife doesn’t contradict you in front of your friends, unless you’re wrong.  Not like 100% wrong, any percent will do.  Except for that, the good wife doesn’t contradict you in front of your friends. Usually. If she can help it.

She takes care of a thousand things so that you don’t have to.  A thousand things that you will never, ever, notice. It is not because she is better than you.  It’s because she is better than you.

The good wife knows that sometimes chicken nuggets are both meat and vegetable.  Pyramids are for sissies.

The good wife knows when you are down and says nothing because nothing was exactly the right thing to say.

The good wife knows that the best “thank yous” can be as simple as a head placed gently on a shoulder.

The good wife prays.

The good wife knows how my favorite pair of jeans magically ends up clean in my dresser drawer.  (I suspect pixies.)

The good wife does a million things you don’t notice and she is totally ok with that.

The good wife is patient and kind. Not boastful or proud.  She is never rude or selfish.  She forgets the bad stuff.  She rejoices in truth. And no matter how bad you are sometimes, she always believes.  She hopes.  She perseveres.

The good wife, she is the most amazing creature who ever lived.

The good wife, she loves.

Man, I wish I could be like a good wife.