Marry the right person

Rick and I have been together for 24 years - married for 18.  He looked at me the other day and said "can you believe you met me just 6 short years from David's age now"?  Gulp..  I have thought about that a lot as our oldest child creeps up in age, and if I would want him to marry someone he meets when he is just 16 years old.  My initial reaction is - no.  But then I look at Rick and how blessed I have been to have him in my life all these years.  There is no doubt in my mind I married the person God intended for me.  There is no doubt in my mind that if God plans for David, or Jason, to meet their spouse at an early age, that it would work for them as well.  The key to any marriage is first - marry the right person.  You can read all the books, see all the counselors, and watch all the Dr. Phil's you want to help your marriage, but if you have married the wrong person it will not matter.

It's not to say that things have always been perfect in our marriage - they haven't.  We have had some bumps in the road that felt like we would never crawl out of.  But we have.  As God has gone before us, he has led us through the deep valleys up to the high mountain tops again.  It's trusting through the rough times that they will get better, and that you are working on it together.

I appreciate my husband so much.  It's not just the huge things he does for our family - and he does a LOT of huge things.  He works hard to run his companies in a way that honors God.  He manages his employees in a way that has created a loyalty to him that brings tears to my eyes.  His employees truly enjoy having him as a boss.  He also tries to honor his mother and father, and goes out of his way to look after my mother, especially after my father passed away.

But he also does a lot of little things.  I remember when David was just starting to walk and we lived in a one story ranch house.  He was worried David would wake up and not be able to find our bedroom, so he bought nightlights to put around the house.  He has done that in every house we have had since.  He wants his boys, and me, to be able to find their way in the dark.  Even when we moved here, my shelf in my laundry room had a place so you can hang clothes to dry.  The wire, however, was slotted, not straight, so you couldn't slide your clothes around.  I noticed it every time I hung clothes to dry, but it's not like it was a big deal and I didn't say anything about it - I was happy to have a beautiful laundry room!  One day, without telling me, Rick measured the shelf, went to Lowe's and cut a new one.  He installed it and then told me that it was bugging him that the shelf wasn't right for me to hang clothes.

Today I am especially thankful for Rick.  I am noticing all the big, and small things he does to make our family function better, and make my life easier.  There should be another word stronger than "blessed".  Because I feel more than blessed today because I married the right person.