Monday, January 22, 2018

Serving One Another


(Tea Time by George Dunlop Leslie, 1865)



There may be others who wake up way too early in the morning but are not really ready to bounce around doing things in the house. Sometimes I wake up extremely early and do not want to disturb anyone else in the house with my busy noise.

This morning, Mr. S. was up early for an appointment, and seeing I was awake, asked me what my plans were for the day.  When I told him I had a lot to do, but joked that the maid had not yet brought me my tea to get me motivated,  he brought me this, with his own brand of enthusiasm:


He said he brought me hot tea, but when he looked around for flowers he could only find some in his file of clip art that he uses his newsletters and bulletins.  He is still literally cutting and pasting -- because he prefers it -- when it comes to printing. 

This is also a sample of his wry, dry, subtle wit. 

He said he was too impatient for the hired help to show up.  

Those of you who know Mr. S. will recognize that statement as humour, too, since he's not generally the impatient type, unless it concerns being on time for an appointment.

I know in Australia the husbands have been accustomed forever, (as long as I have known) to bringing their wives their morning coffee or tea. That has not quite reached us here in the US, that I am aware of,  but Mr. S. was favorably impressed by it. Some of the older men have assumed the practice here.

This is especially rejuvenating in the following situations:

-recently had a baby
-recently relocated and have a big job ahead settling in
-feeling ill or recovering from illness
-grieving the loss of a loved one
-needing encouragement in housework if it gets overwhelming
-much more.
-missing friends and loved ones

Mr. S. always knows what is bothering me, and he tries to make it better. If we have financial set-backs or just feeling the pinch after all the major monthly bills are paid out, he finds something to ease the situation, that "seems" luxurious and is a little distracting from any dour situation.("I am really sorry we will not be going on vacation in the tropics this week, but to make it up to you, maybe we could turn on the furnace and get it warmer in here!") His remarks are never, ever typical, amd always catch me off guard.  The real clip-art bouquet I didn't expect. 

In my observation, serving one another had a greater impact than trying to be a "leader" because serving is leading by example.  I think people get too obsessed with "leadership" and end up creating a bossy situation, which creates coldness in the heart! Since I do most of the food preparation, serving and house keeping, having something like this brought to me, reminds me how good it feels for the ones we serve.

What do you think?


...through the love serve  one another..Galations 5:13 (literal Koine Greek translation)

9 comments:

Nancy said...

Thank you, this encouraged my heart.

Unknown said...

My husband and I serve each other in big and little ways. In little ways I will fix tea for him in the morning, he clears the table for me . In big ways he takes care of the finances knowing that I don't like working with them and I cook meals knowing he loves good food! Neither of us is the leader but we pull together very well. It sounds like your husband has a great sense of humor which can get you through tough times with a smile. Enjoy your tea!

Lynn said...

Stanley's bouquet is quite comical...
The 1865 painting also brought to my mind the 'civil' war....I think the lady in black is a widow...having lost her husband in that conflict. Did that occur to anyone else?

Jana said...

I enjoyed hearing you tell of how you and your husband interact with one another. You can tell there's love, compassion and unity in your marriage. There is a generation in this world that longs to know what this feels like, a generation that needs such articles as these. Too many couples find themselves on opposite ends and need to find a way to come together... I came upon this site a few months ago and I was so excited. I never knew anything like this existed! I showed this to my fiance' and he was surprised as well. He was brought up in the old paths of God and believe much the way you do. Me, I've served the Lord for many years but was never brought up in the Lord as he was. This site is a comfort to me and is being used as a tool of righteousness. I researched and seen you have been publishing articles for many, many years. May God bless you for keeping the old paths of God alive, and for helping others to do so as well.

Michelle said...

I loved this post. Your husband is a very wise man and funny too. Thanks for sharing more about your husband in recent posts and how you interact together as you journey through life.

Lydia said...

No, Lynn, the artist George Dunlop Leslie lived in London. There seems no indication it had anything to do with the war.

Lydia said...

Jana, thank you. We help each other a lot and everything we do is usually voluntary. We don't demand anything but it's interesting we try to find out if there is anything the other one needs. I will write more about that sometime. Bright now blogger is not working and is giving me error 500 notices so I'm not able to make a new post. I will try to fix that soon.

Lydia said...

Jana there are quite a number of homemaking sites like this! But I am very happy you landed on this one!

Alexa said...

Dear Lydia,
I have been following you for so many years now and you still post such beautiful and meaningful content. Thank you so much. You are such an inspiration.
I have my problems at the moment with serving my family, since I've done it for so many years. It sometimes is difficult to find the motivation to keep cooking for them etc.. Your words help me so much to keep going.
Alexa