Short Story

This story, although very funny, encouraging and worth reading, is a little long. I edited out parts to condense it every time there is a "..." (cut out most of the funny, sorry!)

An Excerpt from Created to be his Help Meet by Debi Pearl

Chapter 4, Thanksgiving Produces Joy - Live with thanksgiving, forgiveness, and joy, and enjoy all your moments as if they were your last...

As a general rule, my husband just doesn't take the trash out. I could be annoyed, or I could learn to enjoy taking the trash out. I'm smart; I have learned to really enjoy taking trash out. One day recently, my husband saw me struggling out the door with a huge sack of trash in one hand and several empty boxes in the other. Since he was headed in that direction, he volunteered to carry the heavy sack...

When he got near the large trash trailer...with great fanfare, he flung (I would say tossed, but it was like a sideways catapult) the large trash bag as if it were a cement block instead of a thin plastic bag...Of course, the string broke, allowing the bag to hit the side of the trailer, bursting open and dumping trash all over the ground.

I could tell he was a little embarrassed as I rushed over to clean up his mess, but he continued on his merry way. I remember a time when all this would have irritated me to the point of bitterness. I would have made sure that he felt my irritation, and our relationship would have been strained, all for a bag of trash. Such a stupid waste of our lives...

He thinks I am perfectly wonderful, not because I am a beautiful woman. Those days passed more years ago than I care to remember. Our delight in each other did not happen because he is the perfect man, or because he "loves me like Christ loves the church", or because he is "sensitive to all my needs". It didn't happen because he takes the trash out, or cleans up after himself, or has always made a good living, providing me with all the things most women take for granted. It didn't happen because he is a strong spiritual leader and always does the right thing.

It happened, and continues to happen because of the choices I make every day. I never have a chip on my shoulder, no matter how offended I have a right to be - and I do have reasons to be offended regularly. Every day, I remember to view myself as the woman God gave this man. This mind-set helps me be just that: a gift...his helper...

Somewhere over the years, having goodwill and a merry heart toward each other has become as natural as breathing. We have learned that all of life is fun and needs to be shared with our best friend...This, then, is the rule of life for wives: Live with thanksgiving, forgiveness and joy, and enjoy all your moments as if they were your last. Someday, soon enough, they will be.