National Spouse Day

Somewhere in social media land today, I saw the hashtag 'national spouse day,' so with Valentine's Day coming up, I wanted to pay homage to my dear husband.

Yesterday on the radio, the DJs were asking for callers to share stories concerning something they'd recently learned about their spouse, girlfriend, or boyfriend.  Thinking about it, Shawn and I have known each other for 23 years, and we've been married for 17 years.  What could I possibly not already know about him?  We don't have any secrets, and often delight in the fact that we do share so many life stories with each other.  We were actually talking about it this morning, how fun it is that we do know so much about each other, and share such a history.

I've watched Shawn raise our boys, turning them into young men of God.  He's a really wonderful dad to them, and we know we're blessed. But I didn't get to watch him raise our daughter; I try not to think about it too much, but I will admit that there are times it's difficult.  It's something we both know we miss out on, but we also do our best to concentrate on the boys we do have.

A few months ago my niece and great niece came to live with us for a little bit--and I got to see how Shawn would've been with Grace.  He fiercely protected those girls, loved on them, and turned into a big pile of pushover mush whenever my great niece wanted something.  He even learned how to make a proper ponytail, and it was declared better than mine.  I watched him circle his protective wagons around 'his' girls, and open his arms wide, welcoming them here as long as they needed.

That week, I fell in love with my husband all over again.

And, I did learn something new about him after all this time--something I felt in my heart already--he would've been an amazing dad to our little girl.  This just made me love him even more.

Happy National Spouse Day, Happy Valentine's Day, Happy Every Day, my love.  Thank you for being who you are, for following God's path, and for loving all of us so fiercely.