The Good Wife

Proverbs 31:10-11 (NLT)
Who can find a virtuous and capable wife?
She is more precious than rubies.
Her husband can trust her,
and she will greatly enrich his life.

Indulge me a little, please. I need to take a moment to celebrate the good wives of the world, in particular the one who celebrates her 55th birthday today, my own Connie.

There’s a lot in the Bible about the value of sacrifice, and my wife has sacrificed much through the years. She’s sacrificed the fulfillment of many of her personal desires while her journalist husband pursued late-night stories, her corporate husband traveled and came home late, and her pastor husband sometimes put the needs of the church ahead of hers.

For the record, she’s been married to just one man. Connie has put up with a lot of career transitions over the last three decades, raising three great children through it all.

People don’t immediately realize what a good Christian leader she can be. She knows her Bible, but she also knows how to help others grow in faith without beating them over the head with her Bible.

I would invite you to wish her a happy birthday on Facebook, but you won’t find her there. She once jokingly said it is “of the devil.” I think she was joking, anyway. There are days I also think she was right. Regardless, one of the things I’ve always admired about her is the way she does not worry about what is popular.

She may want to beat me with a stick for making her the focus of a devotional, but it is safe to say I would be a very different man, much less of a man, without her.

Happy birthday, sweetie. I hope what I’ve said today reminds others of the good Christian women they have known.

Lord, thank you for the blessings of womanhood and long relationships. Amen.