Day 162 Honoring My Husband With Napanthe

Since the turn of the economy, the fall in real estate, the rise in taxes and utility bills my husband has been challenged more than ever in his business.  I am truly proud of how he has been able to sustain given all the hurdles, challenges, and barriers he's had to overcome.  I know the Lord is with him because I know it is only by His grace and mercy that Bryan is where he is today and have not experienced the devastation many of his fellow investors have over the past few years.

This is not to say it has not been difficult for him.  There are times when I wish all I could do is lessen the heaviness of his heart, remove the frustration and replace it with peace and joy.  Today I am honoring my husband with the concept of nepenthe. Nepenthe is a Greek word meaning to to remove grief or pain and is typically used in poetry.  Although I know it is not as simple as I would like to make it to remove someone else's pain, I do know that as a wife I can impact and often change how my husband feels.  Today I am honoring him with nepenthe by understanding from his perspective what are some things I could do to help change the tied in the moment.  Today my quest will be to do just that, find the path to nepenthe and apply it whenever I can.

Some of you may think, well that sounds pretty simple of course one should try to help their spouse to feel better when they are feeling down; and you are correct one should.  However, I love the concept of nepenthe because it implies applying something that is capable of causing oblivion or forgetfulness of pain.  My husband is always thinking, his brain is nonstop business.  Because he is such a thinker when he gets frustrated he spends a lot of time in his head pondering over the situation which I believe impacts his degree of frustration.  Having a greater understanding and appreciation for the little and big things I can do for him to have him be temporarily oblivious of the situation would be like leading him on a short mental vacation which is always refreshing and invigorating.  So today I honor him with the concept of nepenthe and will discover his path to this mini-vacation.

Wives of the world in what ways can you honor your husband with the concept of nepenthe?  How can you help him take a mini mental vacation by forgetting about the woes of the present long enough to be refreshed and re-invigorated?  Are you a source of nepenthe for your husband and if not, how can you become one?  Please share your stories with us; we would love to hear from you.

Blessings,

Rochelle

“It is because God has made me forget all my trouble..." Genesis 41:51