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He was working on a sermon.
His notes were sprawled out all over the table, the kids were sleeping, and the house was rare quiet.
I walked up to ask how he was fairing.....
Was the outline coming together?
Was the Spirit speaking?
We're thoughts flowing?
As he answered all my inquiries....I happened to look down and catch a glimpse of his journal - the one I bought for him just before the first of the year.
It was open wide - one page all inked up and the other bare....
almost bare.
Some words scratched out ...up in the corner of that blank page got my attention:
"LOVE HER", it said.
"What's this?", I asked out loud.
"Look at the next page.", he answered.
As I turned the journal to the next fresh sheet - I saw it again:
"LOVE HER"
I kept flipping...and I kept seeing...
"LOVE HER"
All the way to the end.
And my tears didn't need any time to muster...
they just fell and fell and I buried my face in his neck blubbering thanksgivings.
Because the 'HER'.........is ME.
To have a husband....that would write those words on all the pages of his journal ....the place he visits everyday to pen out prayers and list out heart cries.... it hits me deep.
The awe of it isn't lost on this woman.
Because in these 8.5 years - we have struggled.
We have struggled ugly...and hard...and weak.
We have battled through much.....we have battled each other, we have battled our pasts, we have battled intruders, we have battled addictions....
.....we have gone to war over this union.
(Gladly so. Fighting for a marriage is worth it.)
So to have him etch those words out as a reminder - it flat out makes me fall apart.
And it makes me fall right into him. (His plan all along, perhaps?...wink,wink.)
And it makes me grateful.
Because a man of this kind...
...is-a-gift....
an undeserved, unwarranted, absolute gift from the hand of God.
To the one who wears the ring that matches mine:
You live Ephesians 5. You don't just read it...you stride it out. And me? The recipient of it all? To be the one that gets lavished on in this way? It shows me Jesus. You bring Him into our union...into our family...into our home. You walk out the words of Paul....'love your wife'. And our children - they see God's Word played out here. Thank you a million times over. You're unparalleled. "LOVE HIM....RESPECT HIM" - it's now my anthem - and it's perched right there in the corners of my mind for you everyday. Thanks for showing me the way.
And friends, just for fun....just for proof....take a look at love leaked out, for yourselves:
