Fitted Sheets

{Image Source}

When my sister and I were younger we played a lot of dress-up. Mostly, we pretended to be mommies. We’d imagine that our husband was off to work somewhere and then we’d tie our apron on. The rest of the playtime consisted of cooking dinner for our pretend husband (who never showed up to eat it), cleaning our house and tending to our baby dolls; who, mind you, cried a lot! I’m sure many of you had a similar experience. You know though, those afternoon playtimes basically surmised my view of wife/motherhood. I used to believe, maybe not consciously, that a wife’s job was to cook, clean and care for her children; that was it. As I grew, however, I realized that it isn’t…ur…well at least that’s not the sum total of her job description.

The other day I was folding laundry- more specifically, a pile of sheets- and a thought crossed my mind, “He’s gonna need someone to fold the fitted sheets.” Now, I really don’t like folding fitted sheets! I’m one of those people that have a strong bit of perfectionism inside. When I’m folding laundry, I like crisp corners and neat folds. Fitted sheets break every rule in the perfect-folds booklet. With their elastic-y, gathered edges and their thick, plushy tops, it’s near impossible to get even a neat roll out of the thing; let alone a flat, crisp fold! With that being said, when this thought occurred to me it actually made me smile! How could I smile at the thought of folding fitted sheets for the rest of my life, you ask? Because the fact that, maybe just maybe, he wouldn’t need me to just cook, clean, and tend the children (like that’s not enough, right?) was a beautiful revelation. The thought that my strong, capable, future husband would actually need me to help him in more intricate ways was thrilling.

I’m a fairly independent person. As the oldest child of a big family, I think you almost need to be. You’re the one that all those younger siblings are looking up to, depending on. You’re the one that mom and dad go to first for almost everything. Over the years I’ve played roles as councilor, skape-goat, babysitter, housekeeper, personal chef, maid, psychologist, tutor, seamstress, 2^nd in command, general, and friend.  I need to be needed. So the thought that I may one day get married and no longer be as needed kinda broke my heart. Now, I don’t recall ever physically having this exact thought process, but looking back, I subconsciously believed this.

You may have felt, and thought, some of the same things. Be encouraged, dear friend! The more I’ve read, the more I’ve studied, the more I’ve watched my own mother, I’ve grown to realize that a wife-and eventually a mom, too- fills so many more roles and positions than I could even imagine. If and when the Lord has it for us to be married, that man WILL need us (and we will need him, too, but that’s another post entirely). Whether we like it or not, he WILL need us to fold those fitted sheets so that they fit into the linen closet. He WILL need us to check his pockets and make sure that he emptied them before they go into the washer; and then he WILL need us to shove those same pockets properly back into his pants before he wears them again. He’s gonna need a helpmate. He is gonna need YOU! My guy is gonna need me! As a team you’re, we’re, gonna work together in one fluid motion. For the plan that the Lord has for us to be accomplished, we’re each gonna need to do our part; you know, fill our biblical role. Whether that’s cleaning out the rain gutters to prevent ice-dams in the winter (for him) or folding those fitted sheets (for you), you’ll each have a part, a HUGE PART, to play.

So go forth and practice folding those fitted sheets. Believe me, we’ll need all the practice we can get!