by April Cao
I love how God uses a new year to prompt us into a state of reflection. There’s a lot to be learned from another year gone by. There are challenges we overcame, deployments we endured and friends that changed along with duty stations. We all became a year older, the kids a bit taller and more likely than not-and despite our best efforts-that diet we swore would transform us into our former eighteen year old selves did not, in fact, stick. The challenge of a new year is being renewed in something lasting and praiseworthy. There are outreach programs, volunteer opportunities and mentorship possibilities; the church is hosting a new women’s Bible study or you’ve finally decided that this is the year for a family missions trip. All of these things are wonderful opportunities for personal growth and development but let’s not forget our primary ministry here at home. Our marriage.
The definition of minister (when used as an action) means “to attend to ones needs”. When God blessed us with the bonds of holy matrimony He gifted us with our very own homegrown ministry. The relationship with our spouse, second to that with the Lord, is our most humble opportunity to mature, grow and serve while simultaneously benefitting our entire family. Ministering within our marriage union helps us to have focus despite our circumstances. We may be alone in a new town or suddenly without family to support us, but our husbands remain our anchor, a constant despite the changing landscape. If this has been an area of challenge in 2010 or years past, be encouraged by God’s wisdom and direction concerning marriage and start now by asking Him to guide you in service to your husband.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 1( Corinthians 13:4-7)
And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. (Hebrews 10:24)
Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. (Ephesians 5:21-24)
Wives, in the same way submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives. Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. (1 Peter 3: 1-4)
Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. (1 Peter 4:8)
A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies. (Proverbs 31:10)
About the Author:
April Lakata Cao is a native of Northern Virginia and currently resides in Virginia Beach, Va., where she has just completed her eighth move in eleven years of marriage. April and her husband, a graduate of the United States Naval Academy, have two beautiful children ages four and seven. As a military spouse who has experienced five deployments and countless months of separation, April shares her personal challenges and life lessons as a freelance writer. She is a stay at home mom, a reading and writing enthusiast and for the past three years has published the blog, Amazing Grace (www.intoourheart.blogspot.com) to encourage, educate and inspire adoptive and prospective adoptive parents. Not only does she have a heart for orphans, she is fiercely passionate about religious freedom and women’s rights across the globe. But above all else teaching her children to love, trust and obey God is her most precious job.
