Day 7: My Husband: A Close Second to a Good Breakfast

Okay, this time I really am thankful for my husband.  Our wedding anniversary is at the end of this month, so I was going to try to wait until then... but, after dissing him in this video yesterday, I felt like I should extend a peace offering.

First of all, I should clarify that Tom was not really enraged about my cinnamon halo.  When he opens the microwave at 6:30pm to heat something up, and he sees my ice cold coffee just sitting in there from the last time I did a reheat and forgot about it... his "enraged" response is that he blinks a little slower than usual.

Honestly, that is about as angry as he gets.  I am not exaggerating when I say that I have only heard Tom raise his voice on extremely rare occasions, and on those occasions there was either imminent danger, or we were sleeping in a thuderstorm.  Or someone poured cold water on him during a shower.  He does not love that.  He is a very gentle man, not in a weak way, but in a warm and comforting way.  My kids will likely never understand how lucky they are to have him as their daddy.

This past Sunday, our pastor gave a really great sermon about serving others.  One thing he said that stood out to me was when he addressed dads, saying that "nobody in the home should outserve" them.  For most guys listening to that, my guess would be that they were either ashamed, offended, convicted or guilty.  I can say though, that this is absolutely, 100% already true of Tom.  Hands down, he outserves us all.

I feel like I should try to give him a run for his money at least... but, there is no chance.  He is an invested, involved and interested dad... so he reads, he helps with homework, he wrestles and plays and is Mr. Napkin-head.  He is a good provider, and he sacrifices all the time, putting everyone else in front of himself.  He makes decisions based on what he believes he should do, never what he wants to do.

Granted, that last one can be taken a little too far... at a restaurant, 100 times out of 100, my husband wants a chicken finger basket.  Never in my life have I wanted a chicken finger basket, but he always wants one.  If you woke him up at 3:30 in the morning and asked him if he'd fancy a chicken finger basket, he would probably weep, because the dream he was in the middle of having, just came true.  Still, he "feels" like he should probably "try something different," so he orders some spinach wrap that never tastes like a chicken finger basket.  Even in ordering, he tries to do the right thing.  He is just a really good guy.  (Horrible orderer, but great guy.)

I am thankful for how Tom treats me.  You can't even begin to imagine what it is like to live with me.  Just a taste of life with me would send weaker men running in the other direction.  I would totally run in the other direction if it were an option, so it perpetually shocks and blesses me to know that Tom could fake his own death to get out of living with me, but he chooses not to.  I'm a handful y'all, and he doesn't just tolerate me... he seems to enjoy me most of the time!

Tom works from home.  Men with regular wives might find this to be a challenge, but in our house it is absolutely ridiculous.  I want to tell him things all day.  He calmly and patiently listens to my crazy ideas every five minutes, and he even survived The Great Video Chat Obsession of 2011, wherein I would video chat him constantly.  From downstairs.

We laugh together all the time, and when we disagree, we do so amicably.  That is 100% because of Tom.  Trust me when I tell you that I am not being humble about this... I AM A FIGHTER.  I don't like being told what to do, I don't like being wrong, (although that almost never happens), and I don't like pretending things are okay if they are not.  I have never loved these things about myself, but I can clearly see how God has used Tom to soften me.  I am still pretty feisty, but in all reality, I do not need to be a fighter.  I don't need to defend myself, and protect myself, and I don't need to look out for myself all the time... I have the kind of guy who wants to fight for me, defend me, protect me and put my best interest ahead of his own.  I mean... how can you fight with that kinda guy??

He really made me lose my edge.  What a jerk.

So, this is it.  I married a pretty phenomenal man, and I am thankful that the Lord has paired us together to refine, encourage and playfully insult one another.