{ Loved }

The other day I was watching Tim spreading bark on our flower beds in preparation for spring.  I was absolutely overwhelmed by how much this man loves me.  I mean I've always known he does, but it still gets me when I see him in action like this, doing things I didn't ask him to do, just because he loves me.  He tells me all the time he is trying to take good care of me, and he does.  I realized I need to be more proactive about recording these "little" things because it is exactly this kind of love in action that keeps a marriage strong.  It is service and it is laughter, and he's good at both.

 We talked about love languages recently.  Tim's is overwhelmingly "Acts of Service".  It has helped me a lot to recognize this, because I am much more likely to think of writing him a nice card, sending him an email at work or putting my arms around him, and he likes those things, but it is service that makes his eyes light up.  I distinctly remember when we were dating he had mentioned wanting to get a portion of the driveway swept.  I took on the project one afternoon, while waiting for him to get home from work.  I could tell it meant the world to him when he drove in and saw me there, covered in dust.

He prays for me all the time.

Spends hours in the cold doing maintenance on our vehicles to help make ends meet.

Washing loads and loads of dishes.

Meeting me at the grocery store to do the lifting and loading.

Putting the kids to bed because by then I need a break.

Getting me out of the house as much as possible during the winter to keep me sane.

Carrying the laundry up the stairs.

Spending time with the kids when he gets home from work so I can finish dinner.

Washing the cloth diapers.

Opening doors for me.

Making me tea.

He says it is so little and that he is just trying to take of me and it doesn't seem like much.

I pray he sees that it is a lot to me.

Saturday morning he helped with the very overwhelming project of uncovering the bassinet for our soon-to-arrive baby.  It meant pulling everything out of the guest room closet, sorting the clothes by sizes into totes and putting them back in.  There is still a long way to go, but it is so much better in there.... and our baby will have a place to sleep :)  Silly Oliver tested out the new bed!

Then there are the many hours Tim puts in at work to provide for our family.  He is doing his job to please God.  It is his greatest desire and it humbles and excites me to witness his faith in action.

This past month and a half, on top of work, he has plowed through mountains and mountains of paperwork and hours of phone calls in the aftermath of the medical emergency with Katy Grace.  I've seen him discouraged, clinging to God's provision.

I've seen him praying.

I've seen him tested.

Challenged.

I've seen him grow.

And I know beyond a shadow of a doubt how much he loves all of us and how far he'll go to show it.

{ We're all crazy about this guy }

Today he took to day off to spend with his dad who is visiting for a couple of days.  It has been a cold and rainy day and this afternoon both grandpa and kids were down for naps.  Tim suggested a fire in the fireplace, just the two of us.  Then he made us afternoon tea.

How did God ever decide to bless me so fully from head to toe with this man who knows so well how to love me?

We have our struggles.

We get overwhelmed.

We don't always get along.

But because of God and His love, we're keeping at this marriage and it is beautifully rich.