Every now and again I remind Alpha Hubby that he is out of his mind.  He has to be.  He’s crazy because he’s crazy in love with me.  I sometimes really don’t understand that, you know?  Especially after 21 years and he now KNOWS me, inside out – and still loves me.

Oh I know he loves me as in, he made a commitment to me.  He promised to love me forever.  He wanted it in writing, before God, permanently so that I couldn’t get out of it.  But still.

He loves me.

People say there is no such thing as soul mates, one person made just for you.  I now say “hog wash” because I now know it is true.  It isn’t impossible, as people think. It is that, if you allow God to teach you how to truly, really, completely love unconditionally His way, you’ll have a soul mate who will love you until the end of time.  And he’s fun, too! Sexy. Passionate. And did I say fun??

Sometimes I ask Alpha Hubby, “How did we get so blessed that we have this kind of love and others don’t?”  His reply is always the same, “I don’t know but I’m glad we do, that we got to experience this together.” Neither of us has ever experienced anything like this.

When we are out with or around other couples, it is almost screamingly obvious that some couples don’t have “it” – they make sniping jokes about each other, “Ya, she couldn’t clean a house if a vacuum clean fell on her head, ha ha” or “He couldn’t find his way home from work unless I drop all his women’s phone numbers on slips of paper on a path leading him home.”  Snipe snipe snipe.

They laugh but it’s bitter.  I always look at Alpha Hubby, and he at me, and I know he’s slightly freaking out inside like I am. They have no idea the danger they court by sniping at one another. Sarcasm kills a lot of things – friendships, relationships, feelings, love.

I was talking to an e-friend the other day and she mentioned that her church had a “washing of the feet” ceremony. She said, “He (her husband) and I were asked to be two of the disciples. Last night was Mass service. After the priest washed our feet during Mass, in front of the altar, each of us (disciples) walked down to the congregation and washed others’ feet. It was a very humbling, rewarding, and surreal experience.”

I was immediately reminded of a time in our former church (before we moved) when the pastor decided that our church needed to have a foot washing ceremony.

*In Bible times, the dusty conditions of the region and the wearing of sandals necessitated foot-washing. Although the disciples most likely would have been happy to wash Jesus’ feet, they could not conceive of washing each other’s feet. This was because in the society of the time, foot-washing was reserved for the lowliest of menial servants. Peers did not wash one another’s feet, except very rarely and as a mark of great love.

Luke points out in Luke 22:24 that the disciples were arguing about who was the greatest among them, an attitude that precludes a willingness to stoop to wash feet. There was an arrogance in their attitude. No one was willing to serve the other person. When Jesus moved to wash their feet, they were shocked (John 13).

When Leland and I opted to participate (it was voluntary), it was humbling and surreal.  I’ve never forgotten it.  At the time, the pastor had the women wash women’s feet and men wash men’s feet.  The women were on the left side (with pans of warm water), the men on the right side, doing the same. Basically you dipped one foot then the other into the warm water and wiped it dry with a cloth.

I stood up at one point and looked over at my husband sitting on the platform stairs.  He had just finished washing the feet of a guy who really didn’t like him (thought guys in suits were snobs).  As Alpha Hubby sat on the platform stairs, I was suddenly just overwhelmed with love for him.  I wanted to humble myself before my husband, to show him how much I loved him, as that mark of great love, submission and, I don’t know – honor, perhaps.

I went over to the “men’s side” and I knelt down before Alpha Hubby, picked up his bare foot and proceeded to wash his feet.  He reached down, took my hand, lifted me up, then switched places with me. He then lovingly lifted my foot, and washed.  By this time, we both had tears running down our cheeks. Man, talk about a powerful emotion.

The other wives – well, a few of them – followed suit and the ones who didn’t?  Funny thing about that – a few of them are divorced now and for some reason I’m not surprised.  It required great humility to bow down before your husband and wash his feet.  And yet… it really didn’t.  I had to do that, wanted to do that, wanted to honor him enough to do that.  It was strange yet not.  It just felt right.  He says the same thing.

Alpha Hubby is a very understanding, loving, generous, good man. While he is most definitely a very masculine alpha male, watching him humble himself to wash my feet changed something inside me that night.  And that is the very basis of our relationship.  How can you snipe at someone who’s feet you’ve knelt before and washed?

Well, you can – obviously we are all human – but it hurts your heart.  This is such a precious man, valuable to me, and someone I endeavor to treat as valuable and precious at all times.  I fail a lot – but then there is that awesome make up s*x!!!!

And lest you think he’s a wimp – nah. Not in any way, shape, form or fashion. Only a real man, confident in his manliness, his masculinity, can kneel before his wife and wash her feet.  His thought is that if Jesus loved enough to bow at the feet of his disciples to wash their feet, how can he do less for me?

Consistent, constant, unwavering, unconditional, total, complete, and a totally passionate love.  That is what he gives me.  A foundation I can stand on that isn’t going to crack, shake, and collapse under me.  I hope I give him the same thing back – I know I do but I always feel like I can do better.

Sometimes I look at him and am blown away by this man.  He is, as I’ve said before, a gift from God just for me.  He not only erased my nightmares, he dragged my dreams out of me and he enables me to walk in them.  He believes in me, my talents, and abilities.  He wants me to sing to him all the time.  He reads what I write.  He wants me to thrive.  He loves me.

Totally.

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Today is Good Friday, the day Jesus was crucified on the cross for us. People think that only means Jesus as the way to heaven, but it was a Crucifixion for so much more – the original Bible translation shows it is “whole”.  Jesus died for your whole life – body, emotions, relationships, health, finances, everything pertaining to life. He died for you to be whole.  He arose (Easter Sunday) from the dead to ratify that commitment to go to the cross that He made for us. See **below for more info.

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*Read more:http://www.gotquestions.org/foot-washing.html#ixzz3WHkTZ1HN

 

**If you want to know more, my other website blog will give you information – www.anointedwordministries.org.  I’m just getting it back up so check back often for new content.  You can also go to my pastor/church’s website for free downloads = www.moorelife.org (Keith and Phyllis Moore, free downloads on right side).  Or visit these websites for all sorts of free information, articles, teachings, etc.  KCM.org (Kenneth Copeland), JSMI.org (Jerry Savelle), JDM.org (Jesse Duplantis), creflodollarministries.org,  EIWM.org (Leroy Thompson), billwinston.org, thewisdomcenter.tv (Mike Murdock Ministries)