*WARNING- this post is kinda long and has no pictures. A post full of pictures is on its way. I promise.
So we have been extremely busy with the building of our new house. The floor DIY is about to kill us all!! Since we spend sooo much time in the new house, there is hardly extra time to do regular life stuff that we need to do like say laundry, clean house, grocery shop, cook... you get the picture. Thank goodness for my mother in law that has been practically raising our kids for us lately.
So anyway, last week Lane worked that Friday and I spent some of the day in the new house working and some of the day in our current home just trying to catch up on things. When Lane got home from work, I hadn’t cooked dinner yet- mainly because I haven’t grocery shopped yet. So he ran and got some of my favorite bad for you food- spicy fried chicken, mashed potatoes, red beans and rice, and of course the biscuits. Most of y’all know the place...
I know, I know... We’ve been eating horribly during this DIY, but I’m certain the meal quality will improve once we are in our new house. So to all my healthy friends, don’t deem me a lost cause yet.
Lane comes in with the takeout bag and starts unloading it on the counter so I can fix some plates. He does a quick inventory for me, but before he could finish he lets out a deep breath of frustration and looks to the ceiling. The fast food service forgot to give us all our biscuits and there was only one in the bag. Those of you who know which place I’m talking about understand that the biscuits are actually the coveted part of the meal. And we live pretty rural so to go get the biscuits would have taken at least 30 minutes.
Well our four year old immediately became aware of the circumstances and started to cry. I’m telling y’all, biscuits are a BIG DEAL! Because I know my husband considers me first above anyone else, I reassured him that I didn’t need a biscuit to be happy with the meal. However, because my husband considers himself last after everyone else, he turned and reassured our daughter that she could have the biscuit. She accepted without out a second thought or a THANK YOU!
I stood there in our kitchen spectating this small moment and something just didn’t sit well with me about the events that I just witnessed. I know how everyone in my family feels about the biscuits. I know that my husband was just as disappointed as my daughter was. I was not surprised that my he gave the only biscuit to our daughter. However, I was surprised that she took it without thinking twice- like it was owed to her or something.
Memories from my childhood came racing back to me. Remembering my own mother saving the best piece of chicken for my father, and if there was only one biscuit, you can believe, he was going to get it. And there was no argument from me or my sister.
I looked over at my husband who was quietly fixing his plate. He was tired. Real tired. His shoulders were low with it it and his words few. He had been up since 3:30am to make a 40ish minute drive to work a 12 hour shift all without ever complaining. EVER! And our daughter AND myself had just shown no appreciation or RESPECT for the king of our castle.
Not only had that happened, but I watched Aubrey Lane admire her full plate and knew what had to be done. I knew she was going to be very upset and that’s natural for a child her age. I quietly called her and asked her did she think she should give the biscuit to her daddy who worked all day so that we could want for nothing. Things started to get dramatic quickly as I expected. I tried reasoning with her at first, then just demanded that she give the biscuit to her father.
Lane started to object because he is Lane, but then he realized what was really going on and stayed quiet. This was more than just a biscuit. This was about respecting my husband in all areas. This was about Aubrey Lane honoring her father. This was a lesson for her too. Yes I hated hearing her cry and felt awful for it, but all I could see was her 20 years from now, a young adult breaking down because her father and I prevented her from feeling disappointment and frustration as a child. I could see her as a young wife and mother not respecting her husband because I didn’t restore divine order in our own home.
I haven’t been the best wife to Lane or role model for Aubrey Lane. I’ll admit it. I don’t say thank you near enough and have put a huge demand on all my husband’s time between work and this house build. Then I give him grief if he forgets to take the trash out. God’s word commands the husband to love his wife and the wife to RESPECT her husband. Why not love? Because men need respect more than anything else. Gratitude translates to respect, and respect translates love to them. It is their love language from their wives and children! Respecting our husbands in Godly ways will certainly grow their love for us, and even grow our love for them. So I want to encourage any wife or wife to be reading this post (thank you for hanging in there), to go out of your way today to show your husband a special gesture of gratitude and respect. I can almost guarantee you will be blessed in return. And if you aren’t, don’t be discouraged because when we honor our husbands, we honor God, and we should do that without the need for reward.
I stayed persistent and eventually even Aubrey Lane realized giving up the biscuit was the right thing to do. When she gave it to Lane she was insistent he have it, and in true Lane fashion, he broke it in half and shared it with her. But a lesson was learned.
