The Red Rug

A few nights ago, I got home from work to hear the vacuum whiring away. My dear sweet husband had gotten off work early and started cleaning. He had vacuumed, dusted, swept the floor, and even mopped. Laundry had been folded and put away and the bed made to military exactness. The cleanliness of the house and the realization that it was one less thing on my plate swept over me.

I gave him a huge hug and a kiss and began making dinner. As I went in the kitchen I noticed the red rug under our sink had also been swept. That red rug collected everything, food crumbs, grass, straw, things mysteriously appeared. For weeks I had been trying to clean it with sweeping, vacuuming, lint roller, and it would not be clean. But Connor, my husband extraordinaire, had cleaned it. I don't know how he had done it.



Gratitude came over me as I stood on my clean rug. Sure there were a few stains that would always be reminders of our first apartment, but there were no crumbs, no pieces of field grass. He knew how much I wanted that rug clean and he had done it.

Sometimes in a marriage, love notes can only go so far. I learned that day that actions truly do speak louder than words. I love this quote by President Spencer W. Kimball:

"Some think of happiness as a glamorous life of ease, luxury, and constant thrills; but true marriage is based on a happiness which is more than that, one which comes from giving, serving, sharing, sacrificing, and selflessness."

 How do you make sure you serve your spouse each day?