By Mark Hopper

One of our daughters and her husband bought a house in Orange County about a year ago. They were thankful to be able to purchase a house to raise their two young daughters.

Our son-in-law and daughter worked hard to get settled and make their house into their home.  They purchased new furniture, new curtains and attractive decorations to hang to the walls.  Their house looks very nice.

However, the garage was cluttered with a variety of things that needed to find a place in their new house. I helped them hook up their clothes dryer in the garage and worked with my son-in-law to hang drywall in unfinished areas of the garage.

One thing that my daughter wanted was a shelf over the washer and dryer to hold laundry soap and other things. It seemed simple enough. I actually had some left over shelving material in my garage and some sturdy metal brackets to hold it up.

As I was gathering tools and materials to work on their project, I realized that my wife might want a shelf over our washer and dryer in our garage too. When I asked her about it, she was thrilled with the idea. I’m sure she wondered why it took so long to suggest this. We’ve only lived in our house for 30 years. That is a long time to wait for a small shelf in the garage.

I already had the material. It didn’t take very long to cut the wood and attach the brackets to the wall. It took less than an hour to measure, cut, drill and mount the shelf. It looked pretty nice. I was impressed with my work. My wife was too.

She was really excited to have a new shelf.

A friend used to say, “To a wife…a house means love. To a husband…a house means work”! The longer I have been married the more I agree with that statement. Women love it when their husband works on the house. Wives always have a wish list with more projects in mind. Men often avoid working on the house because they know that after one project is completed there are ten more waiting to be done.

There is a passage in the Bible that says, “Husbands love your wives, just as Christ loves His church” (Ephesians 5:25).  Jesus modeled love by serving and helping others and laying down His life for us. You can read more about this in New Testament books like Mark, John and Romans.

The Apostle Paul instructed husbands to love their wife. You can express your love with your words and by your works.  You can purchase expensive gifts and give her thoughtful cards. But, when you work on projects around your house, you send a clear message that you love your wife.  Even the simple act of putting up a small shelf is a reminder that you love her.

Let me encourage you to send a message to your wife this week. Fix something around your house. She will get the message! She will be glad you did and you will too!

Pastor Mark Hopper

Efree Church of Diamond Bar

3255 South Diamond Bar Blvd

909-594-7604

Sunday Services: 9:00 & 10:45 AM

Efreedb.org