10 Ways to Appreciate Your Man at Thanksgiving

My husband, Pete was out of town last Saturday.   So my 2 girls and I had a full day of plans with great friends whom we love.

As I was getting ready,  I kept tripping over piles and piles of stuff.   Our house was a mess – actually- embarrassingly dirty.    In that moment, it was if God was saying, “Really Wendy?  Pete’ s away… Working hard…. And you’re doing what?… while your house is this messy?  This is SO disrespectful!” 

I immediately cancelled the plans and explained to the girls my reasoning.   “If daddy was going to work this hard for our family, we should too.”   Amazingly, I had two joyful cleaners for 7 hours!    The more we accomplished –  the happier we became.   

When Pete got home, the girls couldn’t wait to show him around.   Emily summed it up very well, “Daddy you work hard for us so we wanted to say thank you!” 

On Pinterest you can find 400 crafty ways to say thank you to your mailman and garbage collector this holiday season. While that’s a nice thing to do, good luck trying to find an equivalent list for thanking your husband.

 

Lists to appreciate your husband seem to have been out of print since 1952.  I believe it’s because our culture tells women we should worry more about being appreciated  than appreciating our husbands.   

 

Since there are no cute Pinterest boards about showing your hubby thanks this Thanksgiving, I asked my Knowing God Ministries Team members for ideas. They made quite the list – Half of which made me blush… so it will not be printed here!  

 

Yet, I hope the remaining ideas inspire you to show thanks to your spouse as we head into the Thanksgiving holiday. 

1. Talk with him about what he wants for the Thanksgiving meal. Then make sure those items are on the table.
2. Take time for a date in the midst of the holiday hustle and bustle.
3. Watch a football game with him or download an action flick rather than a chick flick.
4. Choose not to break the budget on the Thanksgiving meal or the weekend. 
5. Toast him at the Thanksgiving table ( okay that one made me cry!)
6. Plan the Thanksgiving meal in a way that does not stress YOU out.  (He will carry your stress too.)
7. Thank him in front of children for working so hard to provide.
8. Don’t try to make it a Southern Living Holiday at the expense of peace and time together.
9. Ask him about his day and actually listen to his answer (ouch – that’s so true!)
10. I’ll leave #10 as the category that made me blush. Figure it out ladies!

Appreciating your husband is not so fashionable in our culture, but the truth is, if we are going to appreciate anyone this Thanksgiving, should we not start with the men we love? 

 

 

 

 

The amazing thing is when we do:  WE ARE THE ONES WHO BENEFIT!   A more peaceful home and a happier family.    Who doesn’t want that?