My man is not spending enough time at home

Dear Pastor,

My husband is a community worker. He does a lot of work in the community, and so he neglects his home. I have to do the housework and take care of the children, and, when I speak to him about not spending enough time at home, he said he has to do the Lord’s work. I told my husband that, as the man of the house, his duty is not only to provide financially for the house, but the children should see him around during the evening time and that he should take them out on weekends. He is a wonderful father but, most of his time that he should be spending with his family he is out helping people in the community, counselling people, and as a justice of the peace, signing documents. But he is neglecting his home.

Sometimes my daughter tells me that she wants to talk to her father but, by the time he gets home at nights, the poor girl has gone to bed. I had to suggest to her that she should write him a letter and ask him to give her an appointment to meet with her. She did exactly that and my husband was very upset with me because he felt that I was the one who told her to write a letter to him. I did not deny it.

Our sex life is good but it would be better if my husband had the time to spend with me. As a teacher, I have so many problems at school. I wish my husband would take off some of the burden at home. I can see that sometimes he is very tired but, when it comes to sex, he is never tired. I wish he would be, that would give my body some rest. What can I do to stop him from trying to please everybody in the community?

Initial Withheld.

Dear Writer,

Your husband has to learn to strike a balance. He is a justice of the peace.

But that should not mean that he should see people every hour of the day, so to speak. He should let it be known that he should see people at ‘x’ time during the week, but not on weekends. Weekends should be spent for his family.

The Lord Jesus did not work all the time. He said to his disciples “come ye apart and rest a while”. He needs to spend time with his family, otherwise they may go astray.

Pastor