A Wise Woman

Proverbs 14:1 - The wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down.

I am a wise woman. Really. However, consider the fact that my six year old has to take allergy medicine during the fall pollen season. The problem was, I would always forget to give it to her. Dashing around each morning getting ready for school, it never would enter my mind. No, I would remember in the car on the way to school. As we sat in the quiet of the car, I would hear her sniffles and remember. And the guilt would come. I forgot...again! And I would tear myself down for being a "bad mom."

I tried making myself notes, enlisting the help of my husband, and encouraging my six year old to help me remember. Nothing worked. And then I realized that I remembered every morning without fail in the car. Why not just keep the allergy medicine in the car? Voila! No more problem!

Sometimes we get stuck in a way of thinking, and by thinking outside the box the problem is solved. We can build ourselves and our homes up, instead of tearing them down.

Consider your marriage. Is there something your husband does that consistently annoys you. Maybe you have to nag him day after day after day to take out the trash. Everything else is fine, except that darn trash! You have two options. You can continue to be resentful and harp on this subject, OR you can (*gasp*) take out the trash yourself.

I know, I know, you shouldn't have to take out the trash. But if this one thing annoys you to the point that you are "tearing down your own house," why not change it?

Obviously we all have things that annoy us, like me forgetting those allergy pills. Why not think outside the box to correct them. Just because it seems like allergy medicine should be taken at home, and keeping it in the car doesn't make sense, it works. Just because we think men should take out the trash, doing it yourself (joyfully, not resentfully) is a gift to your spouse and it works!

What things are you doing that could be "tearing down your own house?" Why not consider ways to build it up instead?