Until a year ago, my husband, Mark, lived in a “forever young” bubble. He looks great, works out regularly, and never gets sick. Another Saturday moving day came (a regular occurrence with 5 young adults in our family) because my daughter was moving into a new apartment. In the rush to get it done, only one son was available and my undaunted husband figured that was enough. The apartment was on the second floor. It is unclear which piece of furniture did the damage but by 7:00 that night he couldn’t walk.
The lasting back pain continues to impact his patience levels. My girls were home during the holidays and noticed the change in him. What ensued was a discussion about marriage. When we vow to love in sickness and in health we vow to intimately walk in understanding and compassion with our husband.
Mark overestimated the strength of his back. Yet, if I fail to love him through his pain then I have overestimated the strength of my love for him. We all are susceptible to overestimating, whether it is our physical strength or the strength of our love and commitment to marriage.
The remedy is to work out. If you want to be physically strong, you have to build muscle. If you want your marriage to be strong, you have to build up the characteristics of a wife who truly loves her husband.
These are 25 characteristics of a wife who truly loves that came to my mind. Feel free to add more in the comments for the mutual benefit of us who desire to love well!
