Being Helper

Genesis 2:18 The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.

Sometimes (most times) I can't seem to figure out how to be a helpmate for my husband. We are opposites in almost every single aspect of life. He's all sci-fi and I'm romantic comedy. He's words and I'm thoughts, he's cynical and I'm happy-go-lucky, he's podcasts and I'm music. In most ways it isn't a big deal to be so different. In fact, it's kind of nice because we are able to see first hand what the other side looks like and then make well informed decisions. 

But, sometimes when trouble comes and when he's overwhelmed I just have to sit here and watch helplessly. He tells me, and I believe him, that I am his perfect mate because of our differences, but that doesn't make watching the pain any easier. Thirteen years has taught me how to study him so I can adapt to better suit him, however there are still plenty of blanks. 

Since he's been working from home 3 years ago we've gotten really close, scary close (we sometimes even know what the other is going to say before they say it!!! Freaky!). I've learned that when he's really grouchy it's usually because he's just frustrated and feeling overworked (or hungry!) and it's not me. Or many times he speaks before he thinks and that I need to either just listen to the words and not the tone or else in a calm and loving way point out that he didn't communicate so well. 

This past year has been one that he has been stretched incredibly thin and I've found my job is to just listen. I wasn't expecting that listening would be my number one prerequisite for "Helper". The word helper has a simple definition it simply means: "Someone who helps someone else." That's easy, right?! Not often. It's hard to JUST be a listener, or JUST be a respecter, or JUST be a secret keeper (not in an unhealthy way, but in a "I'm keeping mine and my husband's dirty laundry off Facebook" kind of way), or even just be a house cleaner/cook/baby wrangler all simultaneously. But 2014 has taught me  this: Listening is sometimes all my guy really needs. He doesn't always need a way to fix something and a lot of times he doesn't really need my opinion on the matter, he just need me to be a person who listens and a person who will always points him back to our Creator.  

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know what I have planned for you,’ says the Lord.¹⁹ ‘I have plans to prosper you, not to harm you. I have plans to give you²⁰ a future filled with hope.²¹