“That’s not a unique role for you,” my wife said with a
sweet smile.
I have a hunch that what she meant was, “Why are you doing
what our household help can do? Aren’t you supposed to be spending time with me
and our son instead?”
This happened the other night when my wife saw me putting
plastic covers on our books. Blame it on the new bookshelf that has finally
arrived after days of waiting.
But she was absolutely right in what she said.
As a husband to her and a father to our one month old baby boy,
I only have two unique roles right now that only I can fulfill. All the rest, I
can delegate.
1) Husband
and companion to my wife
She needs me right now to be her chief support person
to tell her she's beautiful
to stay pure in mind while waiting for her to fully
recuperate
to be by her side and step in to see that help is provided
to treat her with kindness especially when she's burdened
down
to find a way to still have a date together to release some
of the stress of parenting demands
to talk with her about her concerns
to cuddle with her
to give her a back rub.
2) Father to
my son and overseer of the home
My son needs me right to make sure that all his needs are
attended to,
to be the supplies guy - diapers, wipes, cotton balls, etc,
to be present for him,
to lift him up in prayer everyday,
to bless him everyday.
Changing the world starts at home
by loving and serving your wife and family,
by being a man after God's heart,
by having strong affections for his word,
by being strong and courageous and doing everything in love.
Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be
strong. Let all that you do be done in love. (1 Cor 16:13-14)
I like what John Macarthur said about our responsibility as
men and the courage that we should have as leaders -
"Manly courage means contending with difficulty, facing
challenges, meeting the enemy, contending with problems, bearing pain, pressing
to the goal, never deviating from the truth. It means your life is defined by
convictions."