Woman of His Dreams

I could not sleep this morning.  On, the eve of our half marathon I woke up anxious.  I took my Bible, devotion book and the book I am currently reading, to my reading spot.  When I looked at the key verse for devotion I thought I was surely mistaken.  "I just did this devotion yesterday." Nope!  The topic was the same but the scriptures were not.  I thought to myself "what's up with this humility and serving message?" God does know how to deliver a message indeed!

I took the message, put it away in my mind and moved on to my book Becoming the Woman of His Dreams by Sharon Jaynes.  I don't know where I got this book or when.  I am a huge book shopper and and am growing out of my house with books. For some reason I picked this up last week to read.  I was mesmorized...I really liked it.  It had some good messages about marriage...all of which I agreed with.  I might add that the co-title is "seven qualities every man longs for."  The author made this statement "Woman of his dreams? Why, some days I've been the woman of his dreams, all right.  A nightmare in which I was the star!" That statement impacted me.  As I am finding out, Becoming the woman of HIS dreams has everthing to do with ME changing something! Therein lies the problem. 

The book talks about those seven things in depth.  If you're anything like me, I just want the facts...tell me what I have to do and be done.  [Such a "society" way of thinking]. If your  husband wants to talk, he obviously wants you to listen. That means he wants your attention-I am usually doing something else as he talks but the book says Listen with your heart, listen with your mind, listen with facial expressions....whew! I operate on the premise of 25 words or less....and if I don't look at you it's because I can do two things at once.

Again, another problem.  Two different perspectives.  The author says "he wants your full attention." My thought process is put it out there because after you tell me your story, we need to talk about the garage door, or the leaky faucet, or the oil change. 

In reading the book, she referred to a scripture in Proverbs 20.  I opened my bible and read the verse but that didn't make an impact near as much as the page next to it. The page next to it is Proverbs 19:22 "What a man desires is unfailing love."  Wow! I read that verse and thought, "do I convey 'unfailing love' to my husband when I turn my back to wash dishes as he speaks, or when I walk to the laundry room as he's talking?  Home is the "safe haven" what does my husband's safe haven look like?  I say "I operate on the premise of 25 words or less" facetiously but  in thinking back, I normally stop just long enough to hear the story, give my input and then go on.  The danger in that [I realize now] is that he might feel like his issue is insignificant to me which it is not!

In turn, when I have to talk about that garage door, the leaky faucet or the oil change, I want his full attention.  I usually don't stop until it gets done.  My justification for that?  Well, if the garage door is inoperable, we can't get the car out.  If we have a leaky faucet, the flood will cost us more and if we don't get the oil changed.....

As I read the verse about what a man desires, I looked to another verse on the next column, that I had underlined, highlighted and noted:

"...and a quarrelsome wife is like a constant dripping...a prudent wife is from the Lord." Prov 21:13-14

In looking at Proverbs 21, I would ask "Which one am I?"  I have three friends that are all about their husbands [in the Lord] Their example could be packaged and sold or we could all be that type of wife by opening up the Word of God and living it. It's not so much that Sharon Jaynes knows her topic, as it is that God's Word is true.  I am practicing Listening with my heart, Listening with my Mind and listening with my facial expressions. 

So how do I connect the opening paragraph with this post....My devotion scripture this morning was in Philippians "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit!"  Enough said.  I will take the time to listen and change those things in me that might help me become the "woman of his dreams."

If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose.  Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.  Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also the interests of others.  Philippians 2:1-4