I had this idea of writing this blog in step order. That's not really turning out the way I planned so I am just going to write as it comes!
My husband and I were watching Alaska's Last Frontier. If you've never seen it, I'll brief you. It's about a family who lives off their land. The twist: It's in Alaska where it is frozen about 8 months of the year. That gives them 4 months to complete a years worth of work just to beat the freeze. These people have no steady jobs or steady income.
There is a certain couple, Eve and Eivin, that do not have running water in the home. Eve is pregnant and tends to the animals, grows crops, fetches water for their household, and does any misc chores to help her husband. Since the little arrival is coming soon, Eivin decides to install running water into the home. During the dig, Eivin damages the outhouse by accidentally hitting it with the excavator.
The situation in Alaska is already stressful due to the time crunch. Every minute the sun is up, they are working non stop to complete tasks. So you can imagine the destruction of an outhouse adds more work and pressure onto an already exhausted man.
Eve reacts without scorn saying "Oh no, Eivin, what did you do? Oh no, that's not good." Immediately she suggests building a new outhouse since that one was rotting anyway. He dismisses the idea and suggests repair. With all the work to do, he just doesn't have time to build a new outhouse. So she accepts saying, "Oh well, we'll just poo in the woods for now." Her response gave him much joy because he immediately said, "You want a new outhouse? I'll give you a new outhouse!" and begins to smash and destroy the old outhouse with the excavator. The look on his face is that of a little boys while he's pummeling this outhouse! She stands in the background laughing joyfully and saying, "Wow, that looks like fun". In her interview about the outhouse incident she's calm, sweet, and forgiving. She said something to the tune of " I guess we can just go into the woods for now. It's just the way it goes living out here."
My husband smiles and says, "Now, that's a good woman!"
Not many people are given the crown of a good woman by my husband. He had my attention so I responded with something like "Tell me more." I wasn't blind, I could see the obvious; but I wanted to learn from him. So he says unquote, "A good woman will poop in the woods for her husband."
Click this link to watch outhouse clip.
Do you think that's the first time her husband was careless or made an irresponsible mistake? If you've seen the show, you would know that life on their Homestead is about making mistakes and learning from them. The family will starve if he fails on his hunt...which happens more times than not. But yet, she took his mistake with patience and grace, as if it were his first one.
Eve was given the crown of a good woman by my husband. Why? Despite his flaws, love triumphed. She was willing to sacrifice joyfully to take the pressure off her husband. But it went far beyond a willingness, there was a joy in it. The laughter and fun caused a bad situation to be a growth in their marriage. Whatever was stressing him or causing him stress, stressed her too. She laughed when he laughed. She loved what he loved. She has found her life in him. Rain, freeze, snow, ice, whatever, she is his woman.
Marriage goes far beyond just a willingness. Its' a one-ness. One-ness of goals. One-ness of heart. One-ness of interests. It's an illustration of our faith commitment to Jesus Christ. God uses marriage as a comparison to our relationship with him all throughout the Bible. The more I grasp my marriage, the more I begin understand what God wants of me. For my marriage and in my relationship with Him.
Here's a good Proverbs riddle that the wise woman should understand: "The beginning of strife (strife=contention for superiority) is as when one letteth out water; therefore leave off contention (contention=struggle between opponents) before it be meddled with."
Ladies, why do we oppose our husbands and disrespect them as if they were on another team? Why do we turn an otherwise laughable situation into strife? Could it be our desire to be superior? Do we point out their flaws to make ourselves great?
"Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husband as unto the Lord, For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church; and he is the saviour of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing." Eph 5:22
GO EVE! May we all learn a thing or 2 from her!
