You have been working all day, fixing problems, handling customer issues, returning calls, walking from one place to the other and now you are on your way home, your sanctuary, your safe haven.  All you can think about is sitting around the dinner table with your family and putting your feet up after supper. You finally walk through the door and the house is hot, toys are all over the floor, the kids are watching tv with messy hair and stained clothes, your husband is on the phone upstairs. You glance at the clock to see it’s 6:30 pm and there’s no food on the stove or in the oven! Finally your husband comes down to greet you with stinky sweat pants that he worked out in this morning and bed hair that he never brushed! You take a deep breath and ask, “what’s for dinner, honey?” He replies, “I don’t know?”

Is your blood starting to boil? Are you feeling unloved and unappreciated? I wanted to give you an idea of how your husband might feel when he comes home from working all day to an untidy, chaotic house!

Here are some tips on making a welcoming homecoming….
1. Freshen up…put on some lip gloss, touch up your hair, and spray on his favorite perfume. Just think…in a few minutes, your favorite person in the entire world is coming home!

2. Prepare your greeting…for example at the moment your husband enters the house it’s not the time to ask, “Where have you been?”, “What took you so long?”, “Why didn’t you call?”

3. Have an idea what you are making for dinner and start it. Take the stress off yourself, sit down once a month and write out a monthly menu. You’ll thank me later.

4. Have the kids set the table. By doing so, you are showing dinner is on its way, even if it’s not done yet.

5. Freshen up your kids, build their suspense for dad’s arrival.

6. Turn down the air or start a fire, make sure the toys are put away and light a candle. The setting of your home can make or break your husband’s mood. Remember you aren’t going for perfection, but rather a tidy and welcoming home.

7. Finish up all phone calls and clear visitors before your husband’s arrival. Remember, he hasn’t seen his family all day and the last thing he wants is a house full of women talking about their opinions on life or his wife walking around the house giving advice on the phone to a friend. Just think what you are relaying when he walks through the door and you are on the phone…oh my husband’s home, who cares, he can wait!

8. Last, but not least, is Prayer. Prayer is at the root of preparing the heart. If you work outside the home pray you leave the negative events of your day at work. Pray God will give you the energy and physical strength to take care of your family. Let go of all expectations of help from your husband, but if you get it, praise God and thank your husband.

By preparing for your husband daily, you are communicating he’s a priority and your heart of love.

If you are having trouble with this article, I want you to turn to Luke 6:35-36, The Message writes it this way, “I tell you, love your enemies. Help and give without expecting in return. You’ll never—I promise—regret it. Live out this God-created identity the way our Father lives toward us, generously and graciously, even when we’re at our worst. Our Father is kind; you be kind.

Dear God I pray wives around the world will grasp the vision you have for them. I pray they understand we are not here to be served, but we are put on this earth to serve others. I pray that each wife takes this responsibility to heart, that they don’t see it as a negative chore, but a joyful way of taking care of their number one human relationship, their husband. In Jesus Name Amen!

Titus 2:4 “…that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children,…”