Monday, February 11, 2013

Romance

    I have been an avid reader for a long time. When I was younger I loved to read stories where the "knight in shining armor" came along, rescued the maiden and then "they lived happily ever after." I was certain that my life would turn out like that. My husband would be super romantic, be able to read my thoughts and know how to make all of life easy and sweet.

     Now that I have been married more than 30 years, I have come to believe that no one lives those fairy tale lives. Marriage can be wonderful, but it takes a lot of work and communication.

     As we come to Valentine's Day we think a lot about romance. We often want February 14 to be a magical day. When it is not, we get disappointed. But, real love is about much more than romance. My husband shows me he loves me every day. He gets up before me and tries to be very quiet so that I can sleep a little longer. He turns the heat up so it is warmer when I get out of bed. When it is time to clean the house, he volunteers to clean the bathrooms--which I do not like to do at all. For my part, I usually try to make something for supper that I know he really likes and I encourage my husband as often as I can.

     Most importantly, we pray for and with each other. We share our deepest fears and ideas with each other. And, we value the other despite our weaknesses.

     Our life together has been full of ups and downs, disappointments and triumphs. But, we have fought to work all things out and held onto each other through better or worse. And so, while my life has not been a fairy tale like I read about in the books, my "knight in shining armor" is just right for me and has loved me well for a long time. I do thank God often for the wonderful husband He provided me with so many years ago.

Deb Riddell
Closet Manager

1 comment:

Mary Lehman said...

Amen. Very wise words, Deb.