The Way My Wife Leads


I used to think my wife didn't lead. Parenthood and her pursuit of our daughter being bi-lingual has changed all of that!

If you've met Jenny, my wife, and know anything about me, then you know that we've lived up to the adage: Opposites Attract! We are simply very different people, very different. For example she's beautiful and smart. Nuf said.

I used to think that she wasn't creative or gifted when it came to leadership, and not because I didn't love her, but because she didn't lead anyone. Our baby has changed all of that and has taught me to keep my mouth shut. Well, no it hasn't, in fact most of us have despaired of that, but it has taught me the I didn't have a wide enough view on leadership or my wife.

Jenny this month accepted a job which will create literacy projects for Spanish-Speaking mothers in the neighborhood. She'll be designing projects which will help mom's learn to read with their children. Where will she find the time for all of this!?! Exactly what I said, but then you may not have met her. She's like Laura Hare, our church leader, who is incredibly gifted and would never even dream of a plan without thinking of three thousand details to go with it. Seriously, it's about three thousand. I know because I'm doing good to include about two details in my plans (usually these plans are about what to eat, and how often). So Jenny is going to use the money which she makes from this job to hire someone to do our laundry and her chores, which isn't that big of a deal, but it's just how she thinks and I love it. The really cool thing is that all of this is an elaborate scheme to make sure that our daughter speaks fluent flawless spanish like her mother, (did I mention that people commonly ask Jenny what part of Mexico she grew up in). So Jenny will hire a native spanish speaking mother to babysit Alexina so that Alexina gets the double benefit of being with another kid and hearing native spanish. And the mom isn't a stranger, it's a woman that Jenny got to know by going to a play group. And then there's the play group.

The play group was about to end because it was funded by a grant which nobody was going to renew. So Jenny renewed the grant with another mom who is trying to raise her child bi-lingual, who also is a christian and wants to see some connection to the latino community. So Jenny and Kim (the other mom) have re-applied and renewed this grant so that they are going to be meeting again this year doing music classes. And, again, all of this is so that Alexina speaks perfect spanish. The thing is that she is becoming a defacto leader to these mom's and they really love her. And it's totally natural. She didn't write anything about it, like I would, it just flowed from who she is and her purpose to have Alexina speak spanish.

She is like the woman in Proverbs 31 who saw a vineyard and figured out a way to buy it. Who gets up early and works hard for her family. She is brilliant and I often wonder that she would have consented to marry me.

By the way, I don't say that Jenny isn't a leader anymore.

Posted: Fri - January 16, 2004 at 07:16 AM        

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