A Love Letter

We celebrate my husbands birthday today. Today is his day, maybe weekend. He gets to choose what we do and what we eat, where we go or don't go. That is our way of celebrating him. And he is worth celebrating!!

For me, our first time meeting was a month after my 19th birthday, the start of a school year at Bethany Bible Institute.  I was looking for BC friends and had completely sworn off men. I had not had many boyfriends, I just have a tender heart and was tired of the relationship roller-coaster

For Craig, the first time we met was 4 months before, when the choir I was part of, the Bethany Choral, sang at his church. We had hung out at Cultus Lake with the young adults and youth from his church. He was graduated and working in construction.  I guess I had grabbed a group of the choir members and brought them over to where he was with a bunch of his friends, we introduced ourselves and tried to engage them in what the group was doing.

I don't remember this. I remembered a very nice Monte Carlo burning out on the gravel in the church parking lot. Its driver, my husbands best friend, would become my brother in law and beloved Uncle to our kids.  I also remember staying with this amazing couple, I adored them. They were about the age of my own Grandparents. I felt so welcomed in their home, I remember feeling deeply moved by the power with which this man prayed and their devotion to one another. I also remember looking at the portraits that surrounded their piano, exclaiming "what a truly gorgeous family you have!".  These were the Grandparents of my future husband. I had no idea I would be in that family one day.

What initially drew me to Craig was, well lets be real, he was cute and built like an athlete.  Imagine my kids rolling their eyes and gagging :)  He was funny and really made me laugh. We loved doing the same things, water skiing, snow skiing, playing hard. No matter what equipment you threw at him, he would rock the sport. Except golf, he hates golf. I enjoyed his company and he was easy to be with and talk to. We became good friends quickly. If anything happened, I want to share it with him first!!

On a more serious note, another thing that attracted me to him was that he was always in the library. He was taking his studies very seriously but more than that he was always reading the Bible. He had a hunger for the word of God and was eating it up. He had come to Bible School to change the direction of his life and he was doing everything he could to do that. It didn't take long to put it together that I had stayed at his Grandparents house. I knew his spiritual heritage was strong and that was so attractive to me.  There was depth & strength in him.

I get to celebrate the man I love today. He is an amazing husband! He is still the first one I want to share things with and he treats me like a queen. I love the way he brings laughter and fun into our home. He is gentle, kind, gracious. He is so flexible and can just go with the flow.  He shows interest in what I do. He is strong, determined, and so skilled at many things. He accomplishes what he sets out to accomplish and has worked to turn weaknesses into his biggest strengths. I am never in doubt of his love. I am completely sure of his devotion. He is my biggest encourager and helps me be the best version of myself I can be.

He lets me process verbally. He listens even though I know there have been times, right in the middle of the day, he wishes I would just spontaneously fall into a deep sleep because it seems like I just keep going on and on forever. He never looks at me or says anything to make me feel this way, I just know because I know him so well. I love him for putting up with me.

He is the most well rounded handyman, from fixing the car, to building a porch to plumbing in a bathroom, to wiring lights.  He and a friend are having fun cutting down the biggest tree in our yard right now.  It is completely rotted and I am sad to see it go, but I would never deny him this fun!

He is always up for an adventure, whether we ski, snow shoe, sled. I love that he will jump in and play hard with the kids and I.

He is an amazing father, our kids know how much he loves them. He knows when to be stern and when to have fun. He plays with them and listens to them.  He show interest in what they are interested in. Our kids have never felt the need to compete with the demands of his work.  He guides them spiritually and is a sounding board for life's decisions.  He gives them his time and attention.

I am honoured to do life with this man.

I am so thankful for the chance to celebrate him.