He is the love of my life. He is an incredible provider, protector, husband, father, best friend. He loves me more than I ever deserve. He loves our children so much, there are no words to accurately express it.
I never thought I would have this.
As a young adult, I never had much self-confidence. I was filled with doubts and fears and poor decisions. I was not headed toward the "white-picket-fence" life, that's for sure. Then as a single mom, I really felt as if my chance had passed. I was 24 with a child. I would look around at the guys my age and realize that none of them wanted to take on the baggage of a single mom. How depressing it was to be an "outsider" amongst my peers!
Then one day, I walked into my new 'temp' job and there he stood. Wow! I remember the very first time I saw him. My heart jumped. I could see his soul in his eyes. I was hooked!
One of the first conversations we ever had began with him asking me, "If you woke up tomorrow with no restrictions of time or money, what would you do? What job would you want?" That is certainly a great "get-to-know-you", breaking the ice question! Six months later, we began dating. Our second date was a family date. We walked along a mountain river, with my 18 month old son in between us. I cried. I knew at that moment that this was my family. This is what my heart had been longing for for so long. This man was the answer to so many prayers! He was all I ever wanted and more than I could ever have imagined!
A year later, we were married. Two more kids quickly followed. What an amazing ride it has been! I often hear people say the first year of their marriage was so difficult. That was not the case with us. Don't get me wrong; marriage requires work. It is not sunshine and roses 24/7/365. But we choose to assume the best from each other. We work at loving one another. We are always talking about the pitfalls of life and marriage and how to avoid them as best we can. He is my match. He is my best-friend. He can make me laugh harder than anyone else. He is my protector. I never knew what it felt like to be completely safe before. I never felt able to let my guard down. I can with him. I have with him. I know that I am safe with him emotionally, physically, intellectually, and spiritually. I cannot explain how wonderful it is to truly feel safe.
He is an amazing father. When he puts the kids to bed, I love to listen-in. I love to hear him talk with them, pray with them, laugh with them, love on them. I will never forget the day right after we were married that he put our oldest son to bed. He had read the book, "Love You Forever" as that night's bedtime story. He came back downstairs with tears in his eyes, and told me that he just then fully realized that this was his son. Let me tell you, this mama's heart melted! Since then, I have watched him become the most incredible father. The love he has for our three boys is overwhelming.
This world is full of examples of awful marriages. We live in a society that sees relationships as disposable. Our culture encourages infidelity and promiscuity and walking away from your commitments. Husbands are portrayed as crass, stupid, cave-man like, boyish figures who are good for very little. Wives are portrayed as materialistic, money-wasting, nagging, annoying, ball-and-chains. It is perfectly acceptable to "fall out of love", as if it is just a lane on the highway you can weave in and out of.
But that is not what love is. Love is a choice. It is what you do in spite of how you feel. It is giving when you don't want to. It is helping when you don't feel like it. It is always putting others' needs ahead of your own. It is staying when you want to walk away. It is never giving up on the other person or on your relationship. Love is a commitment. Love is a covenant.
I am so truly blessed to have such an amazing man to do life with. Someone who is as devoted as I am to this thing called love. Someone who lifts me up when I am down. Someone who holds me when I am sad. Someone who will fight for me when I don't have the strength. Someone who will forgive me when I mess up oh-so often. Someone who will not give up on me. I have the best husband in the world.
"I found the one my heart loves." Song of Songs 3:4
