A homeschooling mom of five who chose to start greeting her husband at the door every day after work, to share a private moment, had no idea of the massive impact it would have.
Bethany Rose, 35, met her husband, Jake Rose, 37, on a road trip to New England. They tied the knot in her grandparents’ backyard in eastern Pennsylvania in the spring of 2011. The couple has five children together, aged 8, 6, 3, 2, and 6 months, and is raising their family in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Ms. Rose, a content creator and Christian podcast host, was always eager to greet her husband when he returned home from his job in robotics but noticed he often had to come find her in their busy house. One day, she decided to start greeting him at the door.
“I didn’t know if it would actually be different for him on the receiving end since he knew I was excited to see him either way,” she told The Epoch Times. “I was obviously completely wrong! You can literally see Jake’s demeanor and response change as he begins to recognize this new greeting at the door and anticipate it.
“He told me he would begin to think about me being at the door on his drive home from work and get excited. He said that seeing me first, prior to embracing the evening rush of our family time, was this tiny moment of ‘just us together.’ Choosing to pause five seconds from making dinner, and choosing to make myself available to my husband, lit up his face more than I could have anticipated.”
Small Acts of Love
Ms. Rose recorded these daily greetings but didn’t notice the profound outward change in both herself and her husband until weeks later when she watched the footage back. She shared a montage on her Instagram page, and the response was immediate.
“I can usually gauge how well a post will do,” she said. “I knew my immediate audience would appreciate the reel and think it was cute, but, ten minutes into posting it I turned to Jake and said, ‘This post is taking off!’”
Ms. Rose suspects her reel went viral for two reasons. First, it was neither staged nor planned and captured a real change in both herself and her husband. Second, viewers began to see what a small, simple act could potentially do for their own marriages.
“Strong marriages aren’t built because of a weekly date night or a yearly vacation; strong marriages are built on the tiny, ordinary acts of service and kindness we choose to give each other,” she said.
