In Praise of Gretchen

"An excellent wife is the crown of her husband." ~ Proverbs 12:4

Twenty signs of grace in Gretchen's life that have influenced me to be more like Christ:


1. She strives to love Jesus Christ above all things and to tear down idols in her life.

2. She is very generous and flexible with her time, while I tend to guard my time jealously.

3. She is patient and kind to people who aren't thinking right, or who are making poor choices.

4. She loves the Word of God.

5. She is dissatisfied with the sin she sees in her life.

6. She loves children and takes them seriously, which is what Jesus did.

7. She reaches out to people and makes friends easily, while I (proudly) tend to hang back and wait for others to approach me.

8. She strives to be content in whatever circumstance she finds herself, and rarely complains (I complain enough for both of us).

9. She gladly submits to my leadership and encourages me to lead. She avoids saying "I told you so" when my decisions don't work out as I'd hoped.

10. She is patient with my impatience.

11. She is very affirming when I'm freaking out or feeling insecure, while I tend to want to "help her think straight" when she's experiencing similar emotions.

12. She actively seeks to nurture the faith of others, while I'm given to pointing out the faults of others.

13. She strives to be content with the possessions the Lord has given us, while I tend to be discontent and thus an impulse buyer.

14. She doesn't make fun of people who are different in some way.

15. She has a generally happy disposition, while my default mode is somewhere between serious and grouchy.

16. She forgives when wronged--I should know, I've been forgiven by her seventy-times-seven. She doesn't bring up past offenses.

17. She will call me out when I have a sinful attitude or when I sin in some other way.

18. She is an encourager, listener, and trusted counselor to her sisters.

19. She strives to make the best use of her time, daily bringing her body into submission by rising at 5 am for devotions and household chores (she sometimes goes to the grocery or washes and dries our laundry before I even wake up and realize she's been gone).

20. She loves Christian worship and fellowship. She worships earnestly. She is aggressively hospitable.

That's my girl!