If you asked wives what first attracted them to their husbands, I’m sure you’d find a great variety of answers. I would have to say that when I fell in love with my husband, part of it was based on his love for kids. It continues to be a joy to me to watch the special kind of fun my children have spending time with their Daddy.
The other day I got out the play-doh for the kids to enjoy and my five year-old Josh told me, “Mommy, while you were gone last night Daddy taught us to be really good at Play-Doh. He taught us to make worms AND snakes! Oh. . . and mustaches.” These are the lessons I sure wouldn’t have thought to teach them. I so appreciate the way my husband’s strengths compliment my own, but it also means learning to let go of always having things done my way. Like the morning I found my daughter wore pajamas and shoes to bed. Only Daddy would have wanted her prepared in case her dreams required running. . . or maybe he was just pretty tired when he got her ready for bed. The other evening at dinner I was fed up with refereeing arguments between Josh and his little sister so I finally said ”Josh, you don’t need to correct your sister. I know you’re right, but she doesn’t understand.” Josh immediately burst into tears and said, “But Mommy, if I don’t tell her when she’s wrong, how will I learn how to be a good daddy?” Josh has definitely seen the teaching and training role of a good father in action.
God choses to use such beautiful imagery in the Bible to describe Himself as both a loving, nurturing mother figure and a disciplining, teaching father figure. I know it’s so important that instead of being frustrated at the ways Brian and I naturally do things differently, I learn to value the way God made my husband. And I’m thankful Brian doesn’t expect me to be just like him. Because there’s not much chance I would have thought to teach the boys how to make play-doh mustaches.