Friday, May 7, 2010

The 80/20 Rule

Last night, in a Bible Study of the wives of leadership last night, I was struck and convicted by a quote by Lars Gren, husband of Elizabeth Elliot.

“A wife, if she is very generous, may allow that her husband lives up to
perhaps eighty percent of her expectations. There is always the other twenty
percent that she would like to change, and she may chip away at it for the
whole of their married life without reducing it by very much. She may, on the
other hand, simply decide to enjoy the eighty percent, and both of them will
be happy.”
Here is my challenge to all of the wives out there:  meditate on the 80%.  Most of the time we focus so much on what our husbands are not doing or what we'd like to change, that we miss the 80%.  We married them for the 80%.  Let celebrate that. 

In the spirit of this challenge, I'd like to list some of Shane's 80%:
  • He wakes up each morning and fixes us breakfast.
  • He is an amazingly talented lyricist.
  • He has an incredible voice ( I forget this because I hear it so much)
  • He has a smile or laugh for every mood.
  • He has a brilliant mind, but he is one of the most approachable and unpretentious people I know
  • He has hands that are more like paws :)
  • He helps with the laundry and dishes without being asked
  • He loves to read
  • He's an amazing father
  • He has a heart to disciple others
  • He has gray-blue eyes
  • He looks awesome in a kilt
  • Most of all, He loves Jesus and desires to grow as a Christian
I could ramble on.  Take the challenge!  Fell free to post your man's 80% and I'll post it for the world to see!

3 comments:

  1. I love this, Wendy! And if you insist, I'll brag on my husband's 80%:)
    - He always puts me first
    - He is very intentional in his decision-making
    - He is a great father to our girls
    - He can run really fast
    - He's humble
    - He has a servant's heart
    - He's extremely patient
    - He loves the Lord and I love watching him teach our kids about Him

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  2. Hey Wendy! I am sad that I had to miss again last night. I really hope I can come to the next one. Thanks for the challenge! I'm going to think through this when I get a quiet moment...now off to the crying baby.:)

    Beth

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  3. Will do anything to help his children
    Loves the orphan, hates poverty
    Loves Jesus with all his heart
    Has the cutest dimples
    Sleeps with his mouth open (it always makes me LOL)
    Needs garanimals to get dressed
    Always makes Saturday morning breakfast
    Not at all selfish
    and on and on... :0)

    Thanks Wendy for encouraging us to take pause and look at their good qualities!

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