How I love him...let me count the ways

I don't tell my husband, Mike, often enough how much I love him for the following reasons:

1. He is a man who tries to follow God all of his days, just like me, he has imperfections. He makes mistakes just like we all do.
2. He adores me and treats me like his queen. He doesn't mind jumping in to help me when I am overwhelmed or just with daily tasks.
3. He is a good Daddy and has shown so much growth over the years as a father. He doesn't mind playing or being silly. He doesn't mind changing diapers (well he didn't..they are all potty trained now).
4. He is a hard worker and never lazy, does his best to provide for our family in this economy.
5. He has a passion for the gospel and sharing the gospel with others.
6. He does his best to live what he preaches.
7. He is cute.
8. He has a cute butt (yep, I said it but I am supposed to think that).
9. He has the deepest brown eyes in all the world. I still get lost in them.
10. He has the best hugs and kisses.
11. He is warm and cuddly and his arms feel safe.
12. He understands me.
13. He can make me laugh when no one else can.
14. He puts up with my moods.
15. He wants to improve and grow in the Lord.
16. When he makes mistakes he admits it and tries to correct it.
17. He cares about others and has compassion for his fellow man.
18. He encourages his children.
19. He helps me get the kids ready for each day.
20. He gives the BEST back rubs in the world.
21. He has character and integrity.
22. He is a very good preacher. I enjoy his sermons and am challenged by them.
23. He treats his parents and my parents with respect.
24. He is a God seeker.
25. He is my beloved husband and I could go on but the list would be so long. I love him just because God made him Mike and God gave him to me for a reason. I respect and honor him. I love my husband.

Aunt Theresa and Hannah

For those of you who don't know...I am an identical twin. So the picture you see here is not of me and Hannah but of my sister and Hannah. Theresa came over to play with Hannah while Jennifer was napping and Christopher was at an after school activity. It made Hannah's day. It always astounds me how the simplest things please our children.

They do not need fancy presents and entertainment. All they really need and want from those who love them is a little time, a little listening and a little understanding. So here they are having a grand time playing with Hannah's littlest pet shop toys. The fact Theresa used your silly voices to make the little critters talk made it all the more special. I don't know if Theresa would be thrilled I put a picture up of her in a toboggan but:

Littlest pet shop toy: $14.00
time spent playing: 60 minutes
the joy she gave my Hannah: priceless.

Love

In the beginning love is swirling, twirling and crashing on the shore like the waves of the ocean. Declaring its presence without doubt. It can easily carry you away. Over time, love gets deeper but become quieter like the depth of a quiet river meandering throught the mountains. However, that river is at times a quiet whisper and at others a raging torrent as the ebbs and flow of life change the river's course. Love is a choice and at times it would be easier to give up on love then to hang on through the storms. Yet, when you look at that river, you find life. Yes, there are snags, twigs, rocks, undercurrents and many things you can not see under the surface, but this is what makes love alive. It is ever changing, ever growing, ever changing. Through it may drift along quietly more often than in the beginning but it is constant. Love is like air. You can not live without it. Human beings need love. They need belonging and acceptance by someone that they are special and treasured by someone. God created love. He made us out of love. Although, love misused can be painful, true love seeks to do no wrong. True love seeks to help and build up instead of tear down. Humanity has the capacity to use love as a weapon when not used in its true form. Yet, as a being, a social being we will go to depths we can not begin to fathom, just to find love. As for me, I have discovered love is beyond explanation. I love my husband and my children. But each of those people hold a different, unique part of my love that is just for them. I love each wholly and completely. As life races by, our love grows and brings forth life. Love can bring forth the life of children or it can bring forth life in a person's spirit. God is the giver of life and love. He was the ultimate picture of love when He gave His one and only Son for our lives. That is a love I have yet to understand. A love I can not comprehend. I only can understand from a human perspective, yet love, fascinates me. I can be angry with my husband but my love for him does not change. And it is that love the fuels forigiveness. It is that love that wants us to grow in grace together for a life time. It is that love that meant vows that promised a life time of togetherness through the thick and thin, the easy and the hard. And it is only that love that has helped us to weather hardships only love could help us survive. Love gives us what we need to survive. I thank God for love. Love is more than saying I love chocolate. The love of an object is not real love because the object can not give anything back. But the love of a person has gifts beyond description. Love of others helps us grow in every part of our lives. Thus love is nurturing. So love, when you think about it, is the source of our beginning.

Where Does It Go?

Time, where does it go?
Wasn't it yesterday I brought my firstborn son home?
Wasn't it yesterday I counted 10 tiny fingers and 10 tiny toes?
Wasn't it yesterday I realized my life had changed forever?
Wasn't it yesterday I held a baby to my breast and nursed for the first time?
Wasn't it yesterday I called the doctor in panic on our first night home with a baby because he would NOT stop crying?
Wasn't it yesterday I sang a lullaby to my own child for the first time?
Wasn't it yesterday as I watched my baby in the nursery window go through a heart ultrasound I knew a deeper pain than I had ever known because something might be wrong with my newborn baby's heart?(it was fine)
Wasn't it yesterday I discovered that your heart truly can be outside of your body?
Wasn't it yesterday that I truly discovered what love is?
Where does the time go?

Today I watched my son walk the steps of the stage as his teacher called his name. He walked with his head held high and confidence exuding from his being and shook his teacher's hand as he received his kindergarden diploma. Everyone in the audince giggled and said AWWWWW because he looks to tiny to be graduationg from kindergarden. I watched as he beamed with pride because his teacher said "good job, congratulations". I watched my son walk down those steps and take his place back in line and stand with respect and order as his other classmates received their diplomas. He searched the crowd and found my face and beamed. His eyes aglow with joy and pride. When he found mine and his father's faces in the crowd he knew he had found the people who loved him and were most proud of him and he glowed with joy. My son, my first born, my only son, how is it he can be going to first grade so soon. Seems like he just took his first steps. Here he is on the brink of another place in childhood. He stands at the door and will walk through with confidence and no fear. My son has perseverence and confidence and amazes me each day. Hannah watched with pride, calling out "that's my BRO BRO". (thankfully softly....LOL). His baby sister was pitching a tantrum in the lobby with daddy cause he would not let her crawl down the middle aisle, LOL. I never knew pride, true pride until I had children. This is not the type of pride that is bad, but a pride in what your child has done. A pride in what God has blessed you with. A pride that knows no bounds and is tempered with a love that is indescribable.
Yes, where does it go, time, it goes so fast, so very fast.