Have you been busy at work? Overwhelmed with your schedule? Have you started to notice you’re wife and kids may not be getting your best? If you have started to feel as though you may be neglecting them – you can get things back to normal!
Photo by Phillip Goldsberry on Unsplash
Maybe, like ET, it’s time to “phone home.” Pick up the phone and tell your wife you’re through serving her your emotional leftovers at the end of the day. Tell your family you’re sorry that you haven’t saved enough energy to give back to them. Let them see that you want to make an effort to change. Yes, at first it may be difficult to say those things; you’ll have to swallow your pride. But in the end, it’ll be worth it. And while you’re worried about your pride, your wife and kids will think you’re a hero. You’ll gain their respect because you were honest with them. Take a break from all the distractions and spend quality and quantity time with your family. It’s within your power to change their lives, as well as yours. Isn’t it time you got started?
Remember those great Motel 6 commercials? At the end, Tom Bodett would always say, “And we’ll leave the light on for ya!” Well, for some of you, the light is barely a flicker because it’s been so long since you were there. Let us coach you—go home. Go home to the love of your life and rediscover what brings lasting joy, pleasure, and deepened love. Go home to that special woman in your life. Honor her, thank her, and serve her. Just listen to this husband’s story:
“Too many guys are out there climbing the career ladder and pouring their lives into stuff—whether it’s hunting or golfing or work or money or stocks or a sports team, whatever it is. I need to tell you something. WAKE UP! Don’t take your wife for granted. There may come a time when you get a rude awakening and it’s going to hit you from left field. And it’s going to destroy everything. When you don’t meet your wife’s needs for intimacy, for communication, for connection, she might go looking somewhere else. Even if she doesn’t, you’re missing out on all that she has to give you. You need to make it your life objective to be a student of your wife and to understand everything that makes her tick—what makes her happy, what makes her sad. You need to be a servant to her. You need to make it your highest calling.”
You may not always have her in your life. Life is truly more precious than we realize.
*For more practical marriage advice, check out The Great Marriage Q&A Book. It's available in our online bookstore!