marriage – Page 3 – The Bless Your Heart Blog

Never in a Million Years

Yesterday, you got to revel in the complete preciousness of Sawyer and Wryder. Today? The whole family! Stormie took soooo many – it was hard to choose just a few to showcase here but these are my faves – enjoy!

Honestly, that last one might be fave because it’s just sooooooo Wrex! I chickened out using it for our Christmas card because I didn’t want to offend anyone. 😉 If Wryder was looking at that camera, you might’ve had to shield your eyes opening your envelope.

I am so thankful for these photos. They are the first official family photos we’ve had done with kiddos and I love that Stormie captured this season of our life. Even more so, I’m thankful for my little family. Never in a million years did I dream I’d be this blessed. Never in a million years did I expect to have a husband as wonderful and kind and patient and forgiving and gracious and loving as Wrex. Never in a million years did I think I’d have kids as sweet and kind and smart and cute and compassionate as these two little loves. Never in a million years did I think I’d be this divinely happy to share my life and my time and my resources and my energy with such wonderful beings. Never in a million years would I have really believed that this kind of love existed. But I assure you – it does.

I have delighted in Him and He has given me the desires of my heart. I am forever grateful…forever singing His praises…forever turning my gift back to Him…forever…for a million years plus forever…

On the Mend

This (ruggedly handsome) man…

is my hero. I have no idea what I would’ve done without him the past 11 years! He makes me whole. He’s patient and kind and loving and encouraging…he’s a voice of reason in my not so reasonable existence…he leads us in the ways of the Lord and prays for us and with us and over us…he works hard to provide for our family so that I can stay home and raise these babies…he’s a selfless servant in the truest of forms.

I for sure have no idea what I would’ve done without him this past month. I have been ILL. (I’ve written about it a few times but in an effort to spare you of boredom and more self-pity, we’ll just leave it at that.) And he? He has MORE than picked up the slack around here. He’s played games and read books and changed diapers and fixed meals and washed dishes and bathed babies and folded laundry and let me sleep and bought medicine and bought more medicine and cleaned bathrooms and taken kids to church and helped with projects I started and and and and and…

And? As I’ve been typing this, I got to thinking that I’m not so sure how out of the ordinary this stuff REALLY is regarding him. Even when I’m well (or as well as I can be – ha!) he does these things. He is, bar none/hands down/no competition, the best husband and daddy anyone could ever ask for. He shows love to me in every kind of way I can even think to imagine, even through helping with housework. I hear women talk about their husbands and how they wished he’d help more with the kids or help more around the house or be more involved/romantic/loving and I’m thankful I know nothing of that world.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I have NO IDEA how I landed such a man. I am blessed beyond measure by the way he loves me.

He’ll probably be happy to know that I think I’m on the mend! I scrubbed the kitchen floor this morning and then cleaned the rest of the house…so I guess I’m either getting well or I’m CRazY. (No comments on that one. Please and thank you.) I can’t walk…but my house is clean. Maybe he’ll carry me to bed…

Hard on the Heart

Daddy had a hard-on-his-heart conversation with Sawyer yesterday. I didn’t know it had happened, as I was feeding Wryder in the other room but he told me about it later in the day.

He and Sawyer were finishing up lunch when she began asking him about her future…

S – Daddy, what will happen when I get married?

W – Well, you and your husband will have a wedding and then you’ll live together and start a a family of your own.

S – Will I live here?

W – Well, you most certainly can but when most people get married, they live in a different house and start a new life with their spouse.

S – Then I don’t want to get married! I want you to be with me! I don’t want to go live anywhere else! I want to live with you!

Then the tears commenced (on daddy’s part)…along with the gentle reassurances that daddy would always be there for her. He was still pretty choked up hours later. Those two have such a special relationship – it makes my heart dance with delight. (If she’s absolutely rotten one day, you’ll know why!)

Sweet girl, you can live here as long as you want! That thought will probably become appalling to you one day but we want you to know that no matter where you are or what you do or what the circumstances are or how much time has passed or who you are with — you are always, always welcome and wanted here. You will never be turned away. Our love for you has no bounds or conditions or distance. You have our heart, fully and completely. If we have you under our roof for 18 years or 40 years, neither of those scenarios or numbers would be long enough for me…but I don’t think any number would be “enough.” You’re kind of impossible to get “enough” of, ya know that?

We do pray that you marry well. I pray that you marry someone JUST LIKE your daddy. He reminds me so much of Jesus. I know I married up! Did you know that next to walking with Jesus, marrying your daddy was the best decision I’ve ever made? I live in the blessing of that everyday of my life and I most definitely want the same for you.

We’ve been praying for your spouse for as long as we’ve been praying for you! You deserve a man that will cherish you and love you and show love to you and value you and love your family and lead you and pray for you and worship with you and serve you and provide for you and protect you…a man just like Jesus.

Pursue Him, sweet one, and pursue only men that pursue Him, too. We want you to grow and dream and hear from the Lord and live out your life’s calling…we want you to use your gifts, your sweet personality and your heart of worship to draw people to Him…and if you want to live with us while you do that, well, that’s mighty fine with me.

But when you find that man that sweeps you off your feet…the man that captures your heart and makes it race with unbridled love and hard-sought passion…the man you want to spend all of your forevers with…the man you want to serve Jesus with…the man you want to start your own family with, in your own home…you have our blessing. He will be most blessed to have you. Truly, he will.

So be ok with that, sweet girl. We have a few years to really get accustomed to this idea, so I’m sure we’ll be fine. Just don’t think you can live in another town or state…that is not part of the deal. 😉

Long Line of Love

Oh, weddings, how I heart thee! I’m a BIG fan of marriage…and not just because mine rocks. (As fabulous as he is and as fault-free as I am (ahem) we still work at it every day.) I love the covenant concept – let’s talk about this more in depth one day, k? I love how two, individual people really can become one, unified soul. I love the tradition and the symbolism and the blending of families and lives. Plus, who doesn’t love a good family reunion/detail-rich party/opportunity to get dolled up and cut a rug?

This weekend, we traveled to south central Nebraska for our cousin’s wedding. Isn’t this cake gorgeous?

The lovely couple was incredibly hospitable and had put so much care into every last detail. It was a beautiful celebration!

The groom comes from a long line of love. There are many, many years of sound, successful marriage in his family tree – something that’s a rarity in today’s society, sadly. Grandad and Grandma Phipps were celebrated as the couple with the longest marriage in attendance – 59 years! THAT is something to celebrate, with a spotlight dance, no less!

I know my little family has been blessed by their love for each other. I’m sure that they would admit that everyday hasn’t always been rainbows and roses, but I bet a lot of them have, simply because they’ve never given up on each other. They’re a team. Their marriage means something to them. It’s something that they have put value on; it has worth. It hasn’t been something that they’ve tossed aside because of a difference of opinions or hurt feelings, and I pray those same things for the newlyweds.

We bless your marriage, in the name of Jesus. We pray that you would put Him FIRST and your marriage second and that nothing would disrupt that order. We pray that you would live your lives as one and that you’d be each other’s biggest cheerleaders and number one fans. We pray that your marriage would be a testament of the love of God to those around you. We pray that you would have fun together and that you’d always enjoy each other’s company. We pray that you outlast the elder Phipps’ and continue leaving this legacy of love and the sanctity of marriage for the generations after you.

We, too, come from that same long line of love and can’t wait for our kids to say that one day, too. Wrexy introduced this song to me when we were dating and it’s still so sweet to my ears. A little more love for a Tuesday morning…

Long Line of Love