The Contentions of a Wife

I made my way through the quiet house, turning out all the lights; shutting everything down for the night. And then I saw it. Oh yes. It pierced the silence like a shrill scream.

The trash can. The full, overflowing trash can.

I have a love/hate relationship with trash can. I love that it holds all the unwanted junk from the day and the items that we no longer need or have chosen to depart with. I hate the fact that it fills up so quickly and that it won’t take itself out. No, it relies on its human handlers to do the dirty job.

So, when I saw the overflowing trash can right before I was ready to climb in my bed and dream the night away, you can believe nice thoughts were not running through my head.

No. Not nice at all.

See, not 2 hours ago I had gently asked my sweet husband if he could take out the trash and roll the big trash cans down to get ready for the next day’s trash pickup. (My boys that would normally do this were on a visit with their Grammy). Of course, he said he would.

Now, upon hearing the trash can screaming my name prior to going to bed, I pushed the frustration down, crawled into bed and gently asked my sweet husband if before he left in the morning he could take the trash out and roll our bins down to the curb. And just as sweetly, he said no problem.

I thought nothing else of it.

Until…

I was sitting down having my morning quiet time (in a not so quiet house mind you)… when the phone rings.

“I’m so sorry,” he says, “I forgot to take out the trash and roll the bins down.” UGH.

REALLY?

I could feel the frustrations begin to build.

Never mind that as soon as he had gotten home from work the night before, he worked outside in the over 100 degree heat cleaning out our car to get ready to sell.

Or that he went and got dinner for us because I didn’t feel like cooking that night.

Or that he went back outside after dinner to do some work in the yard.

Or even that he got up early that morning to walk with me before getting ready for work.

Never mind that I had JUST finished reading in Proverbs the profound words of “…the contentions of a wife are a continual dripping”. Proverbs 19:13b

REALLY?

So, I pushed down every wrong thought I had at the moment, asked a quick prayer of forgiveness for my initial reaction, and replied, “no worries honey, I got it.”

I could almost hear the sigh of relief in his voice that he didn’t get reamed over the coals.

And then, I said a quick prayer of thanks for the sweet man that I am blessed to call my husband.

About The Author

Chelsey has written 50 articles on this blog.

Chelsey is a wife to one {for 17 years}, mamma of seven {toddler to young adult} and daughter of the King. Some days she’s climbing the mountain tops, on others you’ll find her trudging along in the valleys. No matter where her journey takes her, she know that the Father is guiding her steps. Leading others towards a vision of Biblical Womanhood is her passion! She invites you to come along side her in her little corner of cyberspace at Sharing the Journey. Chelsey also writes for The Homemakers Challenge and Visionary Womanhood. She and her family are also about to embark on a new journey overseas to the Philippines.

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