He's a Keeper

In honor of Valentine's Day, I feel I must list reasons why I love my husband. Not because it is required, but because I really, really do.

1. He is awesome at surprises. Paul has always had a much bigger romantic streak in him than I do in myself. I felt the need early on in our dating relationship to set the romance meter straight that I did not need the level of romance that he was trying to pour on so thickly. I told him I didn't need surprises. Or poems. Oh, gross, please don't give me poems. So instead, he wrote me a poem called "She Doesn't Need Poetry." He is witty, I'll give him that. Last night, he arranged for Abigail to go to my parents' house so that he could take me to Indianapolis. He took me to an Italian dinner and then to Cirque du Soleil! It was a total surprise to me, and it was an amazing show. We don't always do such big things for Valentine's Day, but sometimes we do. I guess it just depends on the year, but he has never let me down. Slowly but surely, I have realized that maybe as the years go on, a little extra romance isn't so bad, and I am so glad that he has been storing it up for me to be ready for it.

2. He is willing to try new things. Thursday night, Paul went to Zumba with me. He liked it, too! He may be the only guy in this little town of ours to ever try out Zumba in a room full of women, but he went, and he said he would go again. And he was so cute doing those dance moves.

3. He helps me. He knows my breaking points. He knows my loud pointed sighs. He knows when it is time to play with Abigail so I can have a moment. He told me he would make dinner on Mondays so I could go to Zumba. I haven't had him do it yet, but I have it stored in my memory, just in case.

4. He is a really great daddy. He played dolls yesterday with Abigail. And when she came into the bathroom the other day to tell me she saw a bear upstairs, and my response was, "Abigail, seriously. Have you ever seen a bear in this whole town?", his response was, "BEARS??? Let's go look for them." And they took a baseball bat upstairs and went on a bear hunt (they didn't find any). He constantly tells Abigail how beautiful and smart she is, and I relish this, knowing that he is playing probably the biggest role in her identity when she gets older. On Abigail's Valentine card today, I signed my name. He signed his name, and drew a picture of a dog, Cammie our cat, a bee that said "Bee Mine", and Dora the Explorer. Maybe he is just solidifying himself as the more fun and creative parent, but I adore it.

5. He is so much better than I give him credit for. As a new pastor, I know there are things that he is really gifted at, and some things he has to work on the will to do. Like, he is a very gifted preacher. I could listen to him preach any time of day, honestly. But visiting people in the nursing home is, well, let's just say he has to work up the will to do it. But the other day, he went to visit a lady from our church who is in the nursing home, and may be dying soon. She cannot hear him speak, but he went and sat by her bed and fed her ice chips. When he told me this, like it was no big deal, my heart grew about ten sizes for him.

6. He's a good defensive driver. I know that sounds silly, but he has avoided so many wrecks with us in the car, that I am sure I would have killed us about 37 times by now. Just last night, we were leaving Indianapolis, and this guy cut two lanes straight across in front of us, and he maneuvered perfectly. It made him mad, but he avoided the wreck, and I probably would not have had the skills to do that. So, silly, maybe, but I am so glad I don't do the majority of the driving.

7. He dreams big, and he wants others to do it, too. He knows that God wants us to live a life of abundance, not mediocrity. He helps me so often to see the bigger picture in things. His dreams are God-sized, like being able to buy an ultrasound machine for a crisis pregnancy center, but they are genuine.

I'll stop there. I could make it a list of ten, or a hundred. But in the living room, I just heard him tell Abigail, "I sure do love you, Abigail." To which, she replied, "My hair's dark. Yup, it's dark." And then she fell down and is fussing. And I don't want to miss out on this Valentine's Day moment with my family.