Martha and I attended the Southern Baptist Convention in Phoenix, Arizona, a three day meeting filled to the brim with meetings, preaching, singing, and convention business.  That is all nice, but it’s not what makes people attend each year.

People attend to see old friends and to ask them:  “where are you now?”  It’s a great networking event.  People spend as much time as possible in the hallways and in the exhibits area.  The Southern Baptist Convention meeting is equal parts business, inspiration, and family reunion.

While moving from one meeting to another, I saw the wife of one of the respected leaders of our convention.  She is the age of my mother, and when she speaks people listen.  I went out of my way to greet her.  She acknowledged me and then said something that I didn’t quite understand.  She said:  “Martha’s got her hands full.”  I finished the conversation, smiled, and moved on, wondering what that meant?  I thought that she meant that Martha has a big job keeping me straightened out! 

Well, actually she meant that Martha had a very responsible and demanding position among pastor’s wives in the convention.

Aren’t all marriages demanding?  Don’t we all have a big job?  Ever since God walked Eve down the aisle in the Garden of Eden, we’ve had our hands full. 

Marriage demands that we give our best.  In the Bible, husbands and wives have specific responsibilities.  Husbands must love their wives as Christ loved the church; wives must respect their husbands (Ephesians 5:33).  Unless you follow God’s plan, you really do have your hands full.

My new favorite description of love is by Robert Heinlein:  “Love is the condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own.” 

When we truly love our spouses, we care for their needs and we bless one another.