Faithful Friday: Selflessness

My husband is a doer. 

He most certainly is not a sitter.  Doing so drives him crazy.  About the only time he willing does nothing is when he takes a nap.

You might recall this little tidbit of information from my posts this past summer, when dear hubby had to endure weeks of nothing but sitting due to back surgery.  That was certainly a learning experience - for us both.

So it was not much of a surprise to me when our hot water heater ceased working last weekend that he rolled up his sleeves and attempted to fix it himself.  It happened on a Sunday.  The Sunday before Christmas, which was scheduled to be a rather busy day.

Noah was showering and, as he always does, took nearly an hour.  Halfway through it, he began to holler, "there's no hot water!"  I assumed it was due to the length of his shower, not any household snafu.  As I began washing my hair in the sink a short while later though, I realized he wasn't exaggerating.  A quick and brisk rinse later, I was consulting Tim. 

By this point the kids were late for Sunday school and growing restless, so he ran them over, coming back to do a quick check.  A few peeks, tweaks and fingers crossed, we slipped into the pew just 10 minutes late to worship.  Tim hoped it was fixed. 

Knowing we were leaving directly from there to my Grandma's house, I whispered a silent prayer that we'd return to hot water.  To our dismay, late that evening, we did not. 

Tim awoke at sunrise the next morning, a Monday, but Christmas Eve nonetheless.  He needed to start early so that he could visit whatever store happened to remain open for the holidays in our little town.  It wasn't quite the way I'd planned for us to celebrate or him to spend his sole vacation day.

Several hours and a few trips later, Tim hit his easy chair just in time for dinner.  Grateful for such a selfless and loving husband, we ate our meal while watching a holiday movie, and ended the evening at church for a candlelight service.

There were no homemade donuts for breakfast.  No lazy PJ day full of board games and Christmas shows.  No baking cookies for Santa.  My kitchen was still a mess though, only tools and contents from the closet which holds the water heater replaced mixing bowls and a dusting of powder sugar.

It wasn't the Christmas Eve I had envisioned but it was still very much a gift.  I counted my blessings.  My husband was making sure on his only "free" day off that his family would have hot water all week.  He knew he'd return to work on Wednesday and didn't want us waiting until this weekend when he'd have time again to fix it. 

I realized the sacrifices Tim makes for us every day - without hesitation - and tears filled my eyes, watching my tired hubby settle in for a long winter's nap.  His selflessness is a quality I both admire and strive to have a percentage of.  It's one of the many reasons I love him so.

Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

- Philippians 2:4 ESV