Last Updated on May 1, 2019 by Stacy Averette
Tomorrow’s the big day. My hubby will celebrate his 50th birthday and I plan to make it special. We’ve been celebrating birthdays together for over 30 years and you might think after all that time, I’ve run out of ideas. But you’d be wrong. I know what he likes and I plan to deliver.
I started this series a week ago to encourage you, wives, to give your husband the gift he wants most. As wives, we care and nurture and serve, all in an effort to show our families how much we love them. It’s a good thing! No doubt our husbands and children feel loved. But what speaks loudest to our husband is our respect. Remember ladies: You can say you love your husband a hundred times a day, but he’ll have a hard time believing that unless your behavior backs it up.
Jennifer at Loving Life at Home provides a great list of ways—gifts we can give—to show our husbands the respect they need and want. Today I’m sharing two of those gifts.
Gift #5: Prepare His Favorite Foods
One of the ways you can show respect to you husband:
Prepare His Favorite Foods: Honor your husband’s preferences
Do you know your husband’s favorite food? Can you prepare it for him? Do you do so regularly?
Let me tell you a secret: My husband loves food. Period. All kinds of food. I love nothing better than to prepare a home-cooked meal and have him walk in the house after work and say, “What smells so good?” I almost always respond with, “Me!” He laughs, gives me hug, and goes straight to the stove to see what’s cooking. I love to see his face light up and ask, “Is it ready to eat?” He’s fun and easy to cook for because he’s not picky at all. But he’s just as happy with a can of soup and a sandwich as with something that took all day to prepare. And he also loves to eat out! So “preparing” my husband’s favorite foods couldn’t get any easier. Your husband may be a bit pickier and more demanding. Would you be willing to honor the Lord and give him the gift of respect by preparing his favorite foods as often as possible? He’ll notice (even if he doesn’t say anything) and the Lord will bless your service.
My husband has many favorite foods so the best way I can show him respect is by making a plan to feed him well. As I make my weekly menu I always ask him what he’d like for the week for lunch and dinner. Occasionally he’ll make a suggestion but usually he leaves it up to me. As wives, meal planning and prep can get wearisome but I try to remember that’s it’s a privilege and a way for me to honor the Lord by serving my family. You can read about my weekly menu planning here.
Currently, my hubby’s training for his 5th marathon which means lots of miles through the week and a very long run on Saturday. We’re both trying to lose some weight and eat healthier so it takes a little bit of extra planning to reach those goals.
His special birthday meal tomorrow evening will be Rich and Tender Stew from the Trim Healthy Mama Cookbook. I tweaked the recipe just a bit, leaving out the special ingredients, but it is delicious! Click here for a printable copy of my version of the recipe.
I made the stew this morning and it’s been simmering in the crockpot all day. I’ll refrigerate it this evening and it’ll be even tastier after the flavors meld together overnight. I love make-ahead dishes and he does, too, which brings me to gift #6.
Gift #6: Cherish Togetherness
One of the ways to show respect to your husband:
Cherish Togetherness: Spending time with him,
doing the things he loves to do.
Weeks ago I asked my hubby if he could take the day off on his birthday so we could spend the day together. Of course, he was happy to and I began making plans to do something special. Special doesn’t have to mean expensive or elaborate. Sometimes I think we make the mistake of over-planning which leads to over-spending and over-stressing. And often those big plans hinder real togetherness.
So this year we’ll take a short drive to the small town of Guntersville, Alabama. It sits on a beautiful lake and has lots of fun shops and good food. We’ll also make sure to see the Nina and Pinta, replicas of Columbus’ ships, which will be docked and open for self-guided tours this week. We’ll take our time, talk, and cherish the togetherness. I won’t have to worry about supper either because the homemade stew will be waiting for us when we get home! A store bought cake and some candles will make it a special celebration with family.
Gift giving can be life giving and deepen our relationships with the ones we love most if we know the right gifts to give.
Husbands want our respect more than anything else! Preparing his favorite foods occasionally and cherishing togetherness are two easy ways to show respect.
If you missed the previous posts in this series click here to read those.