Recently, my wife celebrated the big 4-0. I knew this was coming for about a year (OK, we’ve been married 14 years, so I knew this was coming a long time before this, but still…), and my wife set two rules for the celebration: 1) it had to be BIG (emphasis on BIG) and 2) she didn’t want to plan any of it! I knew I had to get this right & it had to be special, because she’s was only going to be 40 once.
One problem: for a lot of my life, stemming from my own weaknesses, I have tended to drag my feet, failed to execute and close the deal in many areas. This mission started out like many of the best laid plans: I thought about it 1 year prior, then 6 months prior, then 3, yet at about 2 months, I started to get a little freaked out, because I knew if I dropped the ball of this one, I would never live it down.
So through prayer, sweat, lots of texts & phone calls, much cleaning, and many trips to the store, 4 days of events were set (think 4 events for 40). I was honored to love on my wife through a coffee-shop crawl (think Pub Crawl, but in the morning/early afternoon without depressants, meeting really good friends), a snake farm (yes, you read that correct), a party with 60+ people (½ of them were roving gangs of children/youth, taking over front lawn & our street), downtime at a winery, and hanging out with good friends at a pool. After much work and seeing large smiles on my wife’s face, I would say I nailed it.
But…I wasn’t done yet. You see, her maid-of-honor from our wedding couldn’t make it to the big extravaganza, due to schedule conflicts. So we made a super-secret plan to have her fly in 4 weeks later. And my wife was blindsided with a joy-bomb! She was able to spend two days & nights away with no kids & no concerns, with a very close friend. Again, out came those pearly-whites from my wife, and I knew it was mission accomplished.
Why am I sharing this? A. Because I love my wife; B. I want you to fulfill the meaning of your life.
Don’t get me wrong: I’m far from a perfect husband (just ask my wife). I have a long way to go in sanctity. But I was honored to honor my wife. It is precisely through loving service to my wife and family that will help form me into the Saint I am called to be. Only by grace.
Whether we are married or whether we are romantically unattached, we are called live out our bodies and sexuality in loving service to prayer. Enter into prayer, get insight & inspiration, and then GO! Be a sincere gift to others. We’re going to feel great, and we just might make someone’s day.
Steve Pokorny is the Founder of Freedom Coaching, a one-to-one mentoring system designed to break the power of pornified images. His book, Redeemed Vision: Setting the Blind Free from the Pornified Culture, is available from Charis Publishing.