I’m exhausted from watching my wife work. We are incredibly blessed to have a house filled with my sons and their families. I am loving every noisy moment. There are the sounds of video games, table games, older children on their iPhones, dogs barking when someone comes to the door (yes, they brought their dog) and 14 hours of nonstop cooking sounds coming from the kitchen. There are the smells of pumpkin and apple pies mixed with the scents of veggies and baking macaroni. That is the exhausting part because somehow my wife does it all. This very moment she is repairing a broken table.
Proverbs 31 comes to mind. Blessed is the man who gets a Proverbs 31 wife. Of course when I read Proverbs 31 I wonder what the man is supposed to do. She does it all. So I guess men are supposed to watch football while listening to and smelling the activities of the house. Please don’t chastise me for this. I know better! Maybe? Most of the time. Well, some of the time. I keep the woodstove going and keep the trash emptied.
Eventually the house grows silent as one by one people cave in for the day. The sun will rise and it all starts again. How grand! But soon it will really be over as we watch red lights on the back of cars disappear. Then it will really be quiet as Grandma and I (Grandpa) head back inside with just one dog who must wonder what that was all about. Now she can once again sleep her twenty hours a day. And maybe Grandma will also catch up on some well deserved sleep. As for me I will get more non-deserved sleep.
Merry Christmas.
Written by Roger Bothwell on December 24, 2012
Spring of Life Ministry, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574
Rogerbothwell.org