That Romantic Man

Me and my husband just celebrated 22 years of marriage yesterday, and earlier in the day the girls were asking me:

"Mommy, where are you going to go celebrate?"

and I said:

"Where ever your romantic dad wants to take me."

Now when I say romantic I do not mean romantic in the way the world dictates a romantic man to be-- such as writing me mushy poems, serenading me in the moonlight, or bringing me fresh flowers everyday. But this man is VERY romantic in soooo many other ways. Me and my daughters were discussing them all and I thought I'd share a few ways he is here on the blog with you too. Here they are:

-he wakes up every morning when it is dark to go to work

-when he comes home at night and is exhausted he makes time to throw the kids around playfully and listen to them

-he sacrifices things that he needs or wants so that we can have things we need or want...often

-he is by my side faithfully saying words of encouragement or holding my hand when we bring a new life that we created together into the world

-he loves our children and after two decades would still like more

-when I'm pregnant he will bring my favorite Spanish food on his way home from work

-when I need a break he will treat me to a night out for a dinner date, even if he is tired from a long day at work

-he will sleep on the couch if he's sick so I don't catch whatever he has (or if  I have a newborn that takes up space in the bed and needs to be with mommy)

-he will gladly eat a meal that I made that didn't turn out right (okay, and maybe on a rare occasion  even a little burned)

-he sometimes tears up when we talk about future grandchildren

-he is always available when I need a listening ear and for the children as well

-he teaches us the Word of God through his example, reminding of us it throughout the day, and on Sunday when he preaches

-he takes the children out to the park, or biking, or ice cream just because

-he still opens the car door for me

 -he cares for me when I am sick and has even raced me to the hospital a few times in the middle of the night

-he tries to raise his five sons sons up to be godly men

-he takes his daughters out on dates , listens to their dreams and plans, and being there for them

-he knows me better than anyone else in this world (the good, bad, and ugly) and he still loves me

- most interestingly, he does this all for his family without having had a father figure when he was younger to show him how it was all "supposed" to be done.



That last one is huge to me and my children because we know that there has to be an internal struggle at times without having had that. And that makes his acts of love even greater to us!

There is so much more in the every day that I could say but I am just mentioning a few of the basic things here since I only have a short time before sweet baby wakes up. But these are things I don't want to take for granted and want to keep in front of me.

Because I want to remember the true kind of sacrificial love,

the faithful kind of romantic,

who perseveres during the tough times,

who fights the battles so we don't have to,

the man who loves His family,

and his God,

and daily tries to serve them both well.