I consider myself to be one tough cookie (hey, I was a single mom for a few years, and have been a step-mother for five years, so when a challenge comes up I can pretty confidently say “Bring it on!”) but I got to meet some pretty amazing women.
I had the best weekend hanging out with the hero-wives at Ft. Lewis Army Base in Washington state. At one point during my weekend retreat for The Husband Project I asked the ladies how many of their husbands were currently deployed. I would estimate that 3/5s of the women raised their hands.
What really blew me away was the passion these women had about showing their men that they are loved. These are women who bring the phones into the bathroom when they shower because they don’t want to miss a call from Iraq.
These are women who mow the lawn when they are eight months pregnant and kill all the spiders in the house.
Their big question to me was “How do we let them know that everything is OK at home – they have enough to worry about when they are in combat – but still let them know that we miss them and need them?”
I had some ideas, but I have to share with you something that one of the wives shared with me about how she let’s her husband know that she is all good – but still is missed. After our Friday night session, she went home and texted her husband. She told him that she just wanted to say thank you for all the times he had brought in the groceries when he was home. It was just a little thing, but it made his day. He was blown away that she would be so grateful for such a small thing.
I know that most of the women who read this blog are pretty self sufficient women. You bring home the bacon and fry it up in a pan. But is there one thing that you could thank your husband for today that lightens your load.
- Bringing in the groceries
- Bringing home a paycheck
- Loving your kids
- Getting the oil changed in the car
- Mowing the lawn
- BBQing
The first 25 women who tell me the sweet encouragement they texted to their husbands will get a very cool prize that I promise will encourage your husband. Leave a comment about what you texted to your man and I will let you know on Tuesday what your prize is.
And if you know a military wife? Go give her a hug (and buy her a Dark Cherry Mocha today!)
Oh – and the winners of the two books from last week?
The Winner of I’ll bring the Chocolate is:
Denise says:
April 13, 2010 at 5:31 pm
Oh… I’m blonde and didn’t say why I need girlfriend time…. because God blesses our women relationships and we need encouragement and LOTS of laughter to go with the Sugar Buzz…. my favorite Chocolate…would be truffles, M&M’s, Reeses Peanutbutter cups, etc…. etc….!!!!!
And the winner of Plain Jayne
Karen says:
April 14, 2010 at 8:46 am
‘Plain Jane”: four kids 9, 8,8, 5 yrs. – Homeschool Mom – Women’s Ministry Coordinator – MOPS Council Coordinator = Not much time alone!!
Email me at kathi at kathilipp.com with your address and we will get them out to you!!!)
OK Comments are closed to winners – BUT – I will be doing another giveaway soon!
I texted mine ‘thanks for always taking my truck to work for you. I love that I don’t have to worry about the auto repairs/maintenance on it’. He works for a dealership and you CAN’T imagine how much time it takes to do these little things :). BTW, MILITARY MOMS ROCK!
I texted my hubby to let him know how much I appreciate the way he will quietly go into the kitchen & unload the dishwasher without being asked. It makes cleaning up after dinner a lot easier when the dishwasher is empty & ready to be loaded. A lot of times I won’t even know he has done it until I open the dishwasher after dinner. It is great to be reminded to thank my hubby for the little things he does that make my life easier.
I emailed Michael and FBed it, that I didn’t see until he left how much he really hepled around the house! You forget the little things like, them taking your daughter so that you can make dinner or take a bath or just five minutes to breathe! I saw that he really did clean up the kitchen more than I thought and picked up the house for me when I was tired! Michael said that he was so stunned and told me that he loved me so much and that he did it for me cause it was only way he knew how to help. It meant the world to him that I saw that and VOICED it! Thanks for a GREAT weekend. Can’t wait for him to get home to start the marriage project!
oh yeah and I forgot tell everyone……..”MY HUSBAND IS A HOTTIE”!!!!!! 😛
my husband was deployed last year to Kuwait for 15 months and while he was gone I sent him emails with scriptures of encouragement and reminders of how much I loved him and how I was looking forward to being together again. One that comes to mind was from Song of Solomon 1:2,3~ Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth-for your love is more delightful than wine. Pleasing is the fragrance of your perfumes; your name is like perfumed poured out.~
While my husband was deployed, he had his share of trials, the verses that I would pray over him and for myself came from Ephesians 6:10-20 The Armor of God. We spent our first 15 mos of marriage in deployment, and it was definately hard. Your time here at Fort Lewis gave me great insight and encouragement as a wife, friend and daughter. It was refreshing to hear your stories and to know that my purpose should always be intentional, yet genuine, wholehearted and most importantly God centered. Thank you again and prayfully this is not your first and last trip to Fort Lewis. Go Army….HooAh 😀
My husband is in Iraq right now, so I can’t text him, but at the beginning of his deployment, I bought a 25 pack of thank you cards (he is scheduled to be gone only about 25 weeks). Each week, I send him a thank you card telling him “Thank you” for different things. Some are funny (like “Thank you for not being a picky eater and liking everything I cook whether I think it’s edible or not.”) and some are more serious. This week’s was, “Thank you for making time to talk to me. I know that you sacrifice precious sleep just so I can hear your voice, even if you’ve only slept a couple hours. I really appreciate it, and it makes my day!”
I told my husband this morning over Skype how much I love the fact that he writes me at least something once a day to make me feel sexy and let me know I am still the only one for him. After 11 years that means soooo soooo much! He says that I compliment him everyday all day long with everything I do and I am just like wow because sometimes when he is deployed like he is currently I feel a little disconnected at times and he reminds me that we are not. Tomorrow I think I am going to tell him how proud I am of him for waiting to be one of the last to go on R&R because I know he is very stressed and he really needs R&R right now but he just keeps patiently waiting.
Thank you, Kathy, for a great weekend up here in WA! Great reminders to daily, intentionally love our men! I can’t text my man in Afgan, but I did just email him and let him know how proud I am of him and how I appreciate him working hard to support our family. The paychecks keep comin’ in because of him! Thank you for all the encouragement!
I was there this weekend Kathi! I have to say you are a wonderful speaker and well you are going to change many marriages here @ Fort Lewis, mine included. When you were talking about texting your hubby I got to thinking abou it. I was thinking of the time I was away from him. He as only been home a month, so it is hard to break away. I texted him to tell him that I was bringing home something special for us.
That somehting special was of course the book the “Husband Project”. He has no clue what it is or was. LOL! He has not asked, however I am sure after the 21 days he will know what that something is. A new wife and one who looks at her husband in a new light! Thank you again for your wonderful encouragement!
God Bless!
My husband was deployed and I was pregnant with our third child. It was extremely tough but I was so amazed at his strength and determination for serving our country. I cried my eyes out every day he was gone but I never let him know it. I stayed strong and let my love for him shine thru. It was a very rough experience but we bonded so much better for it. Thank you for all out there serving!!
My husband is just returning from a year in Iraq and I let him know that I’ve appreciated him doing the taxes in the past, but I took care of everything this year and there’s nothing to worry about.
I’m so encouraged to see what y’all are saying about your hubbies! Be sure to check back tomorrow to see what I’m sending you (it’s small but fun!)
“Can’t wait to get away with you this weekend. Thank you for being my spiritual leader and friend”
I am a military wife and so proud of my husband!! 🙂
“thank you for always making me feel special and beautiful, and for always putting our family first! I love you”
My husband and I are temporarily living in two different cities due to work obligations… Texting has become something we do each day. I like to encourage him through text. This morning’s message: “Never lose hope in the mercy of God.” I’m praying for you and thinking of you always.
I am a mom of 2 girls and a military wife. I try to tell my husband thank you every day for something. This morning I thanked him for working so hard and making it possable for me to stay home with our 19month and our 1 month old. He is truly an amazing man 🙂
Woot woot – love that one!!!
“Thanks for putting gas in the van. It was a nice surprise. I’ll have one for you tonight!”