That's what I wanted to say to a certain man last week. I was in the public library when I noticed an elderly couple sitting at a table. The husband was quietly working on financial paperwork, and the wife was reading the newspaper. I don't know what happened previously, but the wife was verbally berating her husband as if he were a child. She told his how horrible his manners were and how awful a husband he was. After a few minutes she returned to her newspaper. Soon she asked, "What is a nemesis? I don't know that word." Her husband answered, "An unlikable enemy," which I thought was a decent answer. The wife lit into him again about how stupid his response was, how he shouldn't add a word like "unlikable" if it really just means "enemy." (I know, the irony...) Later the husband politely asked, "May I please have 50 cents?" to which the wife responded, "No, because you don't know how to ask a question properly. You should have asked, 'May I have two quarters?' because I don't know if you need 5 dimes or what." She proceeded to call him a swear word rather unbecoming for a lady, especially one in her 70s.
So I'm listening to all this, wishing I could say something to her. I wanted to chew her out. I wanted to heap burning coals on her head by being kind. I wanted to tell her poor, defeated husband that he is a true saint and a model of patience. I wanted to tell her husband to get a backbone and fight back. In the end, I paused for a few moments and prayed for the both of them. And then I prayed for myself, that I would never act like that. Surely this is the woman that Solomon was thinking about when he wrote "a quarrelsome wife is like a constant dripping."
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2 comments:
Goodness, gracious. I truly can't imagine! Yes, there are many Scriptures that paint perfect pictures on the subject, such as how it is better to sleep on a tiny corner of the rooftop than in a house with a contentious woman, or how a woman like that is worse than a constantly dripping faucet. We may be the weaker vessel, but we have powers that can certainly be used for good or for evil.
What's also horrible to think about is how much worse it must be when they're not in public, although I don't see how she could be any meaner than that. Poor man, and yet I wonder why he's put up with it?
Hey Chelsea:
What a great example to Kendra, Caelyn and David to see you praying for this couple at the library! You never know how many times our prayers for strangers may impact thier lives. I know that strangers have prayed for me in the past. Have a great week.
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