Most of you probably know that I work for Cru, and part of my job includes one day of working from home per week, called a Wife Day. It’s one of the many benefits that comes from working for a loving Christian organization that cares for the family, and cares about people more than anything else.

What is a wife day? It’s something Whit and I have struggled to determine over the years, but I think we both understand the purpose now, and I have been able to see a lot of the positive outcomes after being on staff, married, for three years.

The purpose of wife day is to cultivate the home and serve your husband (and children, if applicable). When struggling with whether or not I should take a wife day, one of my supervisors asked me, “Well, does it make you a better wife?” And I adamantly answered, “Yes!” So when I come back to the question of what to do on my wife day, I always try to fill up my time with things that would make me a better wife.

Practically, that often looks like taking care of cleaning, laundry, vacuuming, grocery shopping, and meal cooking and planning. But it also sometimes includes sleeping in, visiting friends, Bible study, or lounging around and doing other leisure activities that bring me life. Of course I occasionally have a little work that needs to be done, answering emails or preparing for the next day’s meeting. And there’s always the doctor’s appointment that is better scheduled on my day working from home.

I have realized though, how wife day really has helped to make me a better wife. In the short term, it creates space in my life that wouldn’t otherwise exist that allows me to calm down and rest, and not be harried or stressed. This is a crucial aspect of being a wife, because you don’t want to be someone who drags your husband down by complaining or not being able to help him. Wife day gives me energy and refreshment to want to serve Whit the rest of the week. Obviously, it also gives us more time to be able to spend together in the evenings or weekends when we’re both at home instead of having to do chores.

In the long run, I have seen a change in the way I take care of our home because it’s part of my job. Instead of dreading cleaning or feeling obligated to pick things up around the house, I willingly and gladly do these things to serve my husband. I have never been very on top of tidyness, as I mentioned here, but I always make sure to pick up our home before Whit comes home, even if I’ve done nothing else productive during the day, because that’s the one thing he cares about. That has overflowed into a mindset of wanting to tidy up for him if I come home before him, if he’s out of town, or if I go to bed before him. I love his reaction when he walks into a neat home! He always, always appreciates it.

So, there’s a little more insight to Cru’s wife day, and what it has looked like in my own life.