Before you even start, I know that there are many homeschooling mothers that are single.  I take my hats off to you, because the journey is difficult with the support of a husband, so I know that your challenges must be great.  I suppose that you can say God has proven to be faithful in your home too!

For the rest of us, the married crew, I wonder if sometimes we forget that homeschooling is not our primary home ministry.  It is so easy to become overwhelmed with our daily list of things to do.  What with lesson planning, special projects, paper grading,,,whew.... it's no wonder that we err in believing that this is what we are placed on this planet to do.  Yet before there was a child, there was a marriage.  Before being a mom, I was made a wife.

My husband, God bless him, is such a sweetheart and a tremendous blessing to me.  I can't begin to list all of the ways that he uplifts me and encourages me.  Not to mention all of the days that he walked through the door and I was on my very last leg and he took over so I could get a break.

It would take all day for me to list the ways that my husband blesses me, the ways that he looks after my well-being and that of our children and home.  What is on my mind, however, is whether or not I am returning the same to him.  In the midst of "homeschooling" have I remembered that my primary ministry in the home is to my husband?  Sometimes, I think that I forget that.

In Genesis 2:18 we read "And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet [comparable] for him" (emphasis added).

What is interesting about the above scripture is that God designed woman for being a wife, that was His first purpose.  We don't read that Adam was created a child and God said that it was not good for the child to be alone.  God mades us, women, to be wives. 

Every day, my husband is met with numerous challenges.  Some challenges he meets in route to work: the unfriendly person on the bus, the many perverse advertisements on the billboards, etc.  Other challenges he meets when he reports to his desk: the disgruntled employee who didn't get their way, the full Inbox and calendar of meetings, etc.  Let's not even start in on the challenges that meet him at home: bills, bills, hungry kids, tired wife and the list goes on. 

As his wife, I should be aware that he meets such challenges on a daily basis.  Moreover, I should be moved to action because of that knowledge.  Just as I welcome his arms to comfort me when I am feeling saddened or overwhelmed, my husband needs to be comforted by me.  I can be the listening ear that lets him unload at the end of the day.  I can be the confidante that keeps his secrets.  Most importantly, I can be the intercessor that take his challenges to the Lord in prayer.

As a wife, I can be much more than a chief cook and bottle washer.  In order to be a blessing to my husband, I must pay attention to him.  I must make time for him and make time to meet his specific needs.  Furthermore, I must understand that I cannot do this on my own, but only through the wisdom and power of the Holy Spirit will I be able to identify his needs and join him in his spiritual battles.

Now, I am not my husband's pastor!  I am not put here to "teach him a thing or two",and talk him to death!  I am to be his most loyal supporter and helper, his "good thing".  The beauty in this is that God has built in a blessing to me also when I give myself to the ministry of being a wife.  God will teach my husband how to operate in his ministry of being a husband and he will provide the leadership and protection that I need.

Let us not forget that our marriages must be maintained in order for our children to be discipled .  Let us ask God how to address the problems every marriage faces, so that His righteousness can be seen in it.  Wives, let us continually pray for the spiritual growth and development of our husbands.  Let us never fail to seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the wisdom of the  Word of God in the administration of this office.  Let us constantly remind ourselves that more than being a homeschooling mom, I am a wife!