By Codie Brenner 

I have a girlfriend who has mentioned this concept to me a few times now, and I think it’s finally sinking in. It’s a gift actually. Meditate on it for a minute.

You are the only one.

You are the only one who can love your husband and kids the way they most desire to be loved, because they deeply desire to be loved by you. You are the only one that can meet their needs in a specific, nurturing, you’re their mom (wife) kind of way. You are the only one that burns their banana bread just the way they like it. Your snuggle is just cuddly enough and your arms are the ones they want wrapped around them when it’s all said and done.

Not only are you the only one, you are the one God chose for the job. And funny enough, you handpicked it.

Back in the dreamy days, you know before the reality of the marriage commitment sunk in and before I had to sleep with one eye open and one to three kids in the bed with us, I emphatically said my husband was the only one for me. I wrote sappy poems about it, rehearsed it in my mind, and even told his parents it would be so, even before he had realized it for himself.

The part that I have had to chew on since hearing of this idea from my friend, is that I was actually that only one for someone else. You know – that deeply cherished sort of thing. The thought is hard for many women to believe about themselves (myself included), it is something I have dismissed for years as untrue. I thought being cherished and cherishing your loved ones in that way was sort of fairytale, something you read in a book, but wasn’t actual. Those relationships don’t really exist.

God’s word clearly shows evidence otherwise. The verses that most stir up this truth for me are found in Proverbs 31:10-11 and 31:27-28. Verse 10 sets the stage.

“Who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies.”

To be anywhere near virtuous for me is a thrill, not to mention a deep longing desire God planted in my heart as a child. It’s more than pretty dresses, perfect ringlets, and tea parties – though I tried that out for a few years not so long ago. It is valued by the people that matter most to you this side of heaven so greatly that King Lemuel’s mom spent 21 verses outlining it.

You are the only one.

(11) “The heart of her husband does safely trust in her, so that he shall have no lack of gain.”

This verse has given me a distant finish line to run for as it is the explanation of what I desire to be for my husband, a trustworthy and loyal companion who protects my husband’s reputation, who nurtures his needs (the physical ones too), and who meets the needs deepest to his heart for himself, his family, and his home.

Proverbs 31:27-28 echoes the idea. “She looks well to the ways of her household, and eats not the bread of idleness. (28) Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her.”

Doesn’t that speak to the very heart of our desires? To be the kind of woman whose family deeply trusts her to care for them, and they love her for it.

You are the only one. I am the only one.

What are we waiting for?