My Protector and Provider

My husband is naturally calm. His emotions rarely drag him in deep valleys of depression or raise him to mountain peaks of euphoria. He’s proud of his ability to stay on emotional plains.


For the last month, he’s been markedly different. Since our Brazilian daughter joined our household, he’s been lighthearted, often engaging in silly behavior. He sings and dances with her, listens to her chatter about her new friends and her experiences at school, and takes her to the grocery store so she can bake cakes and cookies for our family.

Our girl had a strange interaction with a boy at her high school on Thursday; I could tell when she told me about it that it made her uncomfortable. The boy gave her a football jersey to wear to school Friday. Apparently this sharing of the jerseys happens all over the high school, but it’s not a tradition she understands. She was a little disgusted too that the jersey wasn’t clean.

I wasn’t really sure what to tell her. Should I do something to help? Should I call the boy or his parents? Should I talk to Adam to learn more about the boy? Since our girl doesn’t always fully comprehend English, my only advice was to say “no” more often than she says “yes” when she’s talking to boys.

That night I told Joe about what happened. He thought about it overnight and sent our girl a text Friday morning. He told her he’d washed the jersey for her to wear if she wanted to wear it. If she didn’t want to wear it, he told her to return it to the young man and tell him her dad didn’t approve. She was so relieved to have a way to return the jersey without having to be unkind. When she came home from school they had a ten minute conversation about what decision she’d made and how she told the boy. Their conversation was the first I heard that he’d done or said anything to help her.

Joe listened to me when I told him the story. He let it rest in his mind and heart. He offered a kind resolution that allowed her the right to make a choice. He’s done the same thing many times for our sons and for me.

Isn’t this how God defines our roles in His love letter with us? The wife offers information and wisdom to her husband and trusts her husband to love, provide for, and protect his family.

My husband has rarely disappointed me.