Madagascar and Marlboro madness.

Our wedding day, September 24, 2001.

Last year, when my husband came back from a trip to Madagascar, he could not stop talking about the amazing cinnamon rolls Sue baked for the team. And I was fortunate to taste some for myself this year!

Kim and Sue lead the church in Antananarivo called Tana City Church. They have been in Madagascar for the past 8 years. I have briefly mentioned Sue in a previous post, 'Suepermom", for that is EXACTLY who she is!

She makes moving to another country with five little boys look super easy. And then, they even adopt a little girl too! This family makes living abroad look attractive and fun. I can't help but admire her resilience and determination to make wherever they are, home. And I know that it is actually not as easy as she makes it look, but her strength is found in her friendship and faith in Jesus.

And of course, a little cinnamon roll every now and then hurts no-one.

It is indeed very helpful in my household. And has come in quite handy as a token of appreciation*... especially when my kids have had a long day and mom and dad have to go to a leaders' meeting in the evening (like last night). It makes the blow of being 'babysit' less painful. More sweet. 

*Ahem, it's not a bribe ;-)

Thanks to Sue, I was  able to find a great recipe for the best rolls ever from The Pioneer Woman. It is absolutely delish. 

I use store-bought dough (because I can) or make a quick version of the dough using ready made scone-mix.

Anywhoos, in her recipe, The Pioneer Woman refers to her husband as The Marlboro Man. I had to chuckle at the description. As a little girl I saw some of the Marlboro man adverts. And I fell in love with the idea of tough, tall, dark and handsome. With a hat. (Without the smoke, of course.)

A few years back (almost 16 years now), I met my Marlboro man and he has gotten tougher and tender, taller and handsomer as the years pass by. I have fallen madly in love with this man. His rugged, rough, gentlemanly-ness still drives me nuts. 

You might be thinking "Argh, enough with the the suryp and toppings!" but then again,we are talking about sweet things. 

So here goes... some more icing:

I am so very grateful for my husband. He loves God wholeheartedly. He follows God wholeheartedly. His love for  me and our kids is evident in all he does. He is a man of wisdom, yet humble and remains teach able. He is a leader of many, yet he serves me. He is grounded, yet on mission. He takes care of himself and our finances and ensure that we too are taken care of. He has the best sense of humour and is a great encourager. He is loyal and committed and incredibly disciplined- seeing what he started through till the end. He is my best friend, He is fun. He makes me feel safe and accepts me as I am. 

Sure, he has his faults. (But who doesn't??!)

So often we wives do just that: focus on all our husband's shortcomings. When the reality is that they do about ten things right, we hammer and nail in on the one thing they do 'wrong'.

When was the last time that you sat down and thought about how sweet your husband is? 


When we focus on all the good, it is hard to be bothered with the bad. 

But most days, we continue to ponder on the bad- no wonder we don't feel like making any effort to show our support or appreciation. 

We can either break our men down through our moaning and manipulation until they become like little lap dogs (and then we despise them for being so weak) or we can encourage and build courage into our men that make them stand taller, tougher.

Don't wait until Father's Day or his birthday, why not surprise him tonight with some cinnamon rolls...or perhaps, something else... *wink wink* and show him how much you appreciate all he does.

Pro 31:26  She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue. The original word used instead of 'teaching' is the word 'law'. For me, the verse should read: Pro 31:26 She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the law of kindness is on her tongue.

I love love love love that! THE LAW OF KINDNESS!

Lets be wise with our words. Lets talk kindly to our men. Lets choose to be kind. Lets make a decision to be kind. Lets determine in our hearts, by God's grace, to be kind! The 'No-nagging' policy pact.

Listen to this (WOW!):

Pro 16:21  The wise of heart is called discerning (being understanding; being aware of our words' impact)- because sweetness of speech increases persuasiveness. 

A wise woman understands that her words have an impact on her husband. Our kind and encouraging words builds up.

Are you building or tearing down your marriage with your words and demands?



Some more thoughts, for free ;-)

1. Pro 14:1  Every wise woman buildeth her house: but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands (KJV).The word "hands" refers to dominion, charge, demands.  

In other words, the wisest of women builds her house, but Feminist missy Folly with her own (selfish) DEMANDS tears it down. *Yikes!*

What unhelpful demands are you placing on your husband?



2. Sure, Liezl, but you don't understand. My husband is not at all like you describe yours... 

This is my short and sweet answer: God knows. God cares. Give your desires and dreams to Jesus. There is a very beautiful verse in the scripture about how incredible our influence can be, as we allow Jesus to work in and through us:

1 Pe 3:1-2  Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, when they see your respectful and pure conduct. The second "word" refers to the same "word" as the first. For me, the more comprehensive interpretation of this scripture reads: 1 Pe 3:1-2  Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word of God, they may be won without God's word by the conduct and conversations of their wives, when they see your respectful and pure conduct toward them. Wow! How amazing is that! Our men can be won by our conduct and conversations!!! We don't need to "Bible bash" our husbands, we only need to: 

Keep Kind and Trust God.

3. It sure sounds like you worship your husband, Liezl. *raised eyebrows* 

My husband is a gift from God. And I can therefore honour him publicly (like writing this post) and be grateful for him but he can never take the place of Jesus.

Yes, I admit, I have to guard against making my husband an idol by expecting him to do the impossible. Like make me feel loved and accepted 24/7... because it is so much easier to demand things from people than to trust God.

I love what John Mark Comer writes in his book, Loveology: "We're hard-wired for worship. Everybody worships. We have a slant to take God's gifts and make them into wannabe gods." And often, the disappointment and disillusionment that we as women have toward our husbands is because we do just that- we make our husbands god in our lives. We expect them to provide and satisfy all our needs. But they cannot ever accomplish that. Only God can. 

By the way, Loveology is a great book for marriages. Brilliantly written in layman's terms so even I could understand and get what marriage is all about according to God's Word. I highly recommend you read it, oh married woman.