Love This Guy!

Yesterday my husband ran to the store for me to pick up a missing ingredient for the dinner we had already started cooking. I was so glad he offered to go even though I knew he was tired from a long day at work, because I sure didn't want to go after spending the afternoon at the orthodontist and library. I made him a list and off he went and about an hour later he was back (and yeah, I did call him after a while to check and see if he was almost home yet, what a nag I am!)

As we were unloading the bags I pulled out the cans of green beans (one of the things I needed for the casserole I was making) and asked him if he only got the french style. He said yeah because he wasn't sure which ones I needed since I didn't specify on the list. It's true, I didn't. And I wasn't mad about it, and it didn't really matter, but then he said (and this is what killed me) that one day he hopes he can get home from the store and have gotten everything ALL right. Gotten everything on the list, the right brands, the right kinds, the right ripeness, the right amount, so there isn't one thing that I will complain about. I looked at him and instantly felt bad. It's true, I always find something to complain about. Sheesh! I'm as bad as my kids. I mean, I'm always complaining about how much I wish they would stop complaining and here I am constantly complaining. At least now I know where they get it from. Except why do they always get the bad stuff from me?

Anywho, back to my sweet husband to whom I immediately apologized. I have started to realize A LOT lately how great he is and how much I take him for granted. I think my mom is helping me to realize this. Occasionally, she'll make some little comment about what a great guy he is or she'll tell me that I need to thank him more often for the things that he does. And it's true, he is a great guy and he does do so much for me. Who wouldn't want a guy who cooks dinner and gives you a neck rub all in the same day and sometimes multiple times in one week?!

Early in our marriage when we had been going through all the growing pains and adjustments that marriage throws in your face offers, my husband told me that he would give me whatever I wanted if I would just make him feel important. This has only taken 14+ years to sink in (and it's still working it's way in there) but I do feel like I'm starting to grasp this concept. It's just the application I'm struggling with, perhaps it has something to do with my stubbornness.

It's true though, the happier I am with him, the happier he is with me and the more willing he is to do whatever I need and want him to do for me. It's such a simple, basic concept, so why is it so hard to do sometimes? Kris' grandma told me once a long time ago that you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. I know it's an old quote, but to be honest I don't know if I'd ever heard it before then and if I did it didn't leave an impression on me until I was married.

I don't know all the answers to a perfectly happy marriage (since I'm a ways off from having that), but I do know that most people don't stick it out long enough to achieve it. I've been thinking about young love lately and how fun and exciting it is, but how it doesn't even compare to the love that grows with time and experience and HARD WORK! I know I'm more in love now than I was 14 years ago. What did I know then? Not much, that's for darn sure! Check back in another 14 years and maybe we'll be even closer to that perfectly happy marriage! (I can dream can't I?)

Our young love state (celebrating our 1st anniversary a long, long time ago)