Although the prompt for this month asked us, “How has a ‘divine interruption’ rocked your world?’ I want to share something on a much smaller scale that recently happened to me. I’ve written about a humungous interruption/blessing to my writing life before, but this time I want to address what more and more spouses are experiencing these days due to retirements and work from home requirements.
The incident I’m referring to happened one morning when I had a longer than usual writing to-do list sitting in front of me. It was early morning and I had already downed my coffee and spent a delicious hour with Jesus, His Word, and my journal. It was time for me to open my Word Docs and do the next thing.
That’s when my husband informed me, he wasn’t feeling well. He said he wasn’t sure if he was coming down with something as he hadn’t slept well. He didn’t want to push himself and potentially risk spreading a virus (We won’t mention which one we were nervous of as I’m sure you’re as sick of that five-letter word as I am.).
Normally I inwardly groan when my writing routine is potentially going to be rerouted. I’m ashamed to admit how selfish I am about my alone time. But I’m also pleased to report that because of someone else’s productive writing time, I had just completed reading a book about the very situation I found myself in.
Instead of looking downcast when he mentioned he was staying home, I rolled out the red carpet and smiled, “Feel free to visit me anytime you want today. I’ll make us lunch and then we can have coffee together afterwards.”
I gave him a hug and freshened up the bed so it would be extra cozy for him if he needed to go back to sleep.
Wow, the book I read really helped me roll out the red.
With sincere joy I pampered my man and made him feel like a blessing instead of an interruption to my writing life. Amazingly I got through my to-do list with only one thing leftover. And I completed an extra item. (The next day I finished the final thing on the list. It was my latest newsletter that ended up being changed so that I could include this story in it. When you come across inspiration that makes you a better person, it’s not something you want to keep to yourself. There’s nothing better than sharing good news.)
After lunch my husband felt pretty much as good as new, so he waited in our vehicle while I mailed some prizes for my latest newsletter giveaway. Then we went to the beach and watched storm waves from the shelter of our car. We laughed so much together all afternoon that my daughter said, “Get married already, would you?” (We celebrated our 38th wedding anniversary on August 19.)
I’m nosy-to-know about a time you allowed God to turn an interruption into a red carpet appointment.
And in case you’re curious as to which book, I was talking about, here it is: Spouse in the House by Cynthia Ruchti and Becky Melby. Here’s my review of it on GoodReads.
Red Carpet Blessings ~ Wendy Mac
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:13 NIV
