Tag Archives: love

things i love about my husband {22-25} sacrifice

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Things have been a little crazy around here. We fought off sickness and have worked long hours and now I am finally sitting down to get everything back on schedule blog-wise. Whew. 

28 days of intentionally honoring my spouse

We’re married, you know. We share responsibilities and money and vehicles and a house and a bed. Most of the time things are pretty 50-50.

He has “his” vehicle and I have mine. He has “his” side of the bed, I have mine. He has “his” spending money, I have mine. But as with any relationship, sometimes 50-50 doesn’t work. At times someone has to give more and take less.

So when my truck breaks down, he tosses me the keys to his and puts the old beater on the road. The one you have to crawl under the hood to start.

When I’m burning up with fever and don’t want anything touching me– he curls up tight against the wall to sleep. Leaving me with 2/3rds of the bed. 

When money is tight, he willingly hands me his last $20 so I can buy yogurt. Even though he doesn’t even like it. 

He sacrifices to care for me.

I love that about him and I love that it doesn’t stop there.

He sacrifices for friends and neighbors too. And his sacrifice inspires me to sacrifice as well.

So when the neighbors need help and he’s spending 4-6 hours a day at their place, I step over the 50-50 line. I give up the better vehicle, reheat supper because he didn’t make it home on time, spend extra time washing nasty barn clothes to make sure he has his favorite pair of work jeans ready for the next milking and now and then I pull on an old skirt and pink barn boots and head over to feed calves.

I love that I married a man who willingly sacrifices for me and inspires me to sacrifice as well.

The Challenge:

In what way does your husband sacrifice for you or others?

 

things i love about my husband {18} they like him too.

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28 days of intentionally honoring my spouse

My nieces and nephews are pretty darn important to me.

And it turns out that they’re pretty crazy about my husband too.

I love that. :)

@natashametzler

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The Challenge:

Are there people in your life, who mean a lot to you, who get along well with your husband? It’s a treasure, isn’t it?

things i love about my husband {12} perspective

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28 days of intentionally honoring my spouse

I’m wearing four layers of clothing while we work in the barn. The wind is whipping across Tug Hill and biting my exposed skin when I step outside. My husband comes through, “We need to run to town for fuel,” he says.

So I jump in the truck.

We’re only stopping at the bank and the gas station. I don’t know how many times I’ve made these same stops without seeing a single person that I know.

This time we run into everyone and their aunt’s cousin’s brother.

In the truck, on the way home, I mention while patting my layered stomach, “I haven’t seen some of them in quite awhile, they’re probably thinking, ‘my she’s chunked up’.”

And he looks at me and says with a wink, “But just think, Tashie-girl, the next time you see them they’ll think, ‘my she’s looking good!’”

We had a good laugh but the truth is that I love my husband’s ability to help switch my perspective around. 

The Challenge:

Does your husband ever help you change your perspective on a situation?

things i love about my husband {6} strength

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28 days of intentionally honoring my spouse

His hands are rough. Callused and scratchy.

When the weather causes cracks, he uses superglue to meld the skin back together. He can grip ice cold wrenches and with just the strength of his arm, break rusted together bolts.

We were dating the first time I saw him lift the front end of a tractor. I thought maybe it was lighter than it looked. It wasn’t.

It was not a gushing girl ploy when I said, in awe, “I can’t believe how strong you are.” I was just being honest. But he shrugged, “My dad was stronger than I am and his dad was stronger yet.”

It’s not strength built by lifting weights and working out. It is built by hours of hard labor.

I love his strength.

I love that he always treats me with gentleness.

I love that anytime I need his strength, he gladly and freely gives it.

I love that his rough and callused hands are mine to hold. His muscled arms are mine to snuggle under.
I love that when he is near, I feel safe and protected and cared for.

The Challenge:

There are many types of strength. How does your husband demonstrate his to you?

things i love about my husband {5} humor

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28 days of intentionally honoring my spouse

The Great Syrup War began in early ’09 and it still continues to this day.

History books are a little sketchy on how it started. We do know there was coffee involved. Little else is concrete.

We know that two main perpetrators started throwing numbers around. Which is terribly dangerous, of course. And these weren’t just any numbers. They were primes.

Twenty-three taps. That’s what he said he had.  And my husband frowned a little.

By the middle of the season the numbers were in the 40′s. But there was a problem. We were out of buckets.

On the way to the barn that morning, with the sun warming the maple trees and making the snow drip, it came to him. There was one thing he had countless numbers of…

020

The battle of the taps was won.

But the war was far from over. In fact, I do believe it will stay a permanent part of family gatherings for years to come.

Bottles of syrup are sneakily replaced with bottles of molasses. Comments about the enemy’s off-colored or off-flavored syrup erupt. Taste tests are a regular occurrence.

Undercover spies slip onto enemy lines and tap pine trees.

syrup

And my husband’s sense of humor is one of the things I love best about him. :)

The Challenge:

How does your husband keep you laughing?

Does he have a dry sense of humor? Slapstick? Maybe he’s more serious but occasionally breaks from the mold and surprises you.

Think about it and take time to tell him how much you appreciate the moments of laughter.

things i love about my husband {4} conversation

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28 days of intentionally honoring my spouseI set three places at the dinner table that evening.

My parents had invited me over for a meal, but they ran late, so I made the food myself. Chicken, wild rice and asparagus with butter.

I was pulling the chicken from the oven when Mom came through the door. She glanced at the table and then said, haltingly, “There will be four eating, Tasha.”

My gaze met hers and my eyes must have been wide with surprise because she said, “Didn’t Papa tell you?”

I shook my head and started taking deep gulping breaths. While Mama set another place, I hid in the bathroom, hyperventilating. I heard Papa come in and went out, a bit of accusation flying. “I almost didn’t make enough chicken,” I pointed out, “I only threw in an extra piece in case one of the boys came through.”

“Well, it’ll be a boy,” Papa said. All calm. “And he’ll be coming through.”

My hands were shaking.

He showed up two minutes later, while I was still trying to get my hands to hold still. He was relaxed. Smiled a lot. Sat down at the table with us and began telling stories. Oh, he offered me a chance to talk but I mostly mumbled and nodded. So he kept on, sending me a wink here and there.

I’m pretty sure that if he hadn’t already gotten to know me from a distance, he would have left that night thinking, “Strange girl. Doesn’t talk much.”

As it was, he held up both sides of the conversation while I took deep breaths and sat on my hands.

I think I started to love him right then.

We married seven months later. And I have been thankful, every day, for his ability to command a conversation. Oh, sometimes he forgets and runs right over me. But he always comes back and gently pulls me along.

He gives me grace for my long moments of silence. For my jumbled up word-messes. For my “I don’t know, I don’t know, I don’t know.” And he graciously leads me through.

“Talk to me, honey,” he’ll say, and patiently holds my hand while I formulate words.

My communication skills have grow immensely since our marriage, and it is all thanks to him.

The Challenge:

Is there something your husband is exceptionally strong in, that you struggle with? How has he helped you overcome that?

 

valentinevalentine5p.s. have you entered the giveaway? In honor of Valentine’s Day, I’m joining in another giveaway blog-hop for some fun little prizes. You can enter to win a set of farm animal valentines, and find links to giveaways for chocolates, heirloom tomato seeds, a necklace, books and more! Just click here. 

 

things i love about my husband {3} grander

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28 days of intentionally honoring my spouseWe were married three months when I mentioned, in passing, my need for new sneakers. The next day I learned that my thought process connected to that phrase was different than my husbands.

He picked me up from work and we went directly to Dick’s Sporting Goods. He make me pick out a pair of shoes, all while I was protesting, “Honey, I meant that I needed to start watching at the thrift shop for a pair…” And he quickly and effectively shut me down.

“I’m your husband and I want to buy you a good pair of shoes,” he said, grabbing the ones I liked the best and heading off to the cash register.

It was the beginning of something that I would have to learn to accept with grace. He does everything a little bit grander than I expect.

Like the year I said, “Oh, honey, is there any way we could put a porch out the back door? I think it would make the house feel a bit larger, and I could send the little ones to play on the porch without worrying that they would go near the road.”

He started working and by the time we were done (2 years later, I might add) I had a beautiful addition to my living room, two porches, a woodshed and a raised flower bed.

Sometimes it frustrates me. Simple requests often turn into huge projects that take much longer than I want to wait. But if I stop and think about it;

I love this part of him. 

I love that asking for a bookshelf turns into a room of shelves. I love that asking if we could set aside money for a new camera, turned into a Canon DSLR with three lenses.

And I’m learning to enjoy the process. To embrace the year it takes to get the room encased in book shelves. To enjoy the six months with no camera, in anticipation of having the camera I didn’t dare dream of. To love the two years (and counting) of slow remodeling.

It blesses me, and grows me, this desire of his to give me the best he can.

The Challenge:

Can you think of something your husband has done for you that is a little bit different than what you originally wanted, but in the end was greater than you would have dared to ask?

 

things i love about my husband {2} coffee spells love

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28 days of intentionally honoring my spouse

I never liked coffee.

Then I moved to Brazil.

Down there they drink coffee with chocolate. It’s a mocha, but way better. I loved it but never could create a replica back here in the States.  I’m not sure if it’s the coffee that’s lacking, or the chocolate, or both. 

When my husband and I were dating, we would stop at a local diner every Saturday morning for coffee. It tasted a little bit like watered down dirt. Not kidding. But we went every week anyway.

It wasn’t until we were married and went to Haiti that we fell into the habit of good coffee drinking. Haitian coffee is creamy and strong and a bit like drinking dessert for breakfast.

We didn’t have a coffee maker so my husband would get up early, light a match to start the stove, heat up water and then slowly, carefully, poor hot water over a paper towel (I don’t know who brought them to the mission house but we were eternally grateful) filled with ground coffee.

He would serve me a cup of creamy goodness and then would head back to bed. I would curl up on the porch with my coffee and Bible and think, by golly, I’ve got the best husband in the world. 

Coffee is still our love language.

And to be honest, it’s not really about the coffee. In fact, sometimes we substitute tea or hot chocolate.

It’s mostly about having something little and simple that says, quietly, “I thought of you and I love you.”

And my husband is so, so good at this. It is one of the biggest things I love about him.

In fact, just yesterday, he showed up at the door with a cup of Stewart’s coffee (the closest thing we’ve found to Haitian coffee in the United States) and handed it over with a kiss and a rush back out the door to work.

@natashametzler

The Challenge:

Think of something little that your husband does several times a week that shows you his love. It might not be coffee… maybe it’s picking up his socks (in which case, I’ll be a little jealous) or maybe he washes dishes, or takes the kids for a few hours so you can breathe, or brings home little prizes for you…

I’m sure you can think of something. :) And once you do: go tell him “thank you”! 

things i love about my husband {1} the morning routine

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This month I’m trying to be intentional about identifying the things I love about my husband. To read more about why, come over to Kindred Grace and read 100 Things I Love About You. In the meantime, join me each day this month for a short post that focuses on something I love about my husband– my prayer is that it inspires you to be intentional about honoring your spouse for the ways they bless you. 

28 days of intentionally honoring my spouse

The Morning Routine

He comes early, our little two-year-old. His daddy drops him off at my door just before seven in the morning. He plays quietly while I make breakfast and his face breaks into a smile the moment my husband wanders into the room. We eat and then it is time for devotions. And this is what transpires the minute the Bible closes:

@natashametzler

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Then my husband leaves for work and I get to play with a very happy little boy.

And even though he doesn’t play with and tickle the baby for me, it still blesses me. And I love him for it.

Today’s Challenge:

find something your husband does for other people that in turn, brings joy to your life.

If you want to, share what it is in the comments section!

Unending Devotion

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There have been stories circulating lately. Stories about modern-day slavery and women who are trapped tight and dying slowly over months and years.

And we see pictures and hear these tales that make us angry and horrified but they seem so far away. We may buy jewelry or bags or donate money with the promise that it will help free someone, but here is the question: what if that someone was your sister?

IMG_7415One reason that I love fiction, is the ability to take a “what-if” situation and make it seem real. Jody Hedlund did some research and found out that it was during the lumber-era (late 1800’s) that white slavery (forced prostitution) was introduced to the state of Michigan. In her novel, Unending Devotion, she takes us on a vivid trip through that time period through the eyes of an idealistic young woman in search of her beloved sister and the son of a lumber-baron who has closed his eyes to the evil in town so as to make a larger profit.

The story is engaging, well-written and historically accurate. The message is for today.  

And the fact that it’s real, and happening right now keeps me startled. Helping provide jobs so these women have something to do when they escape is a huge part of the problem. There are wonderful programs out there  that need our support and, most importantly, our prayers.

I want to do these things. I want to help make a difference.

unchecked evil
I love novels like Unending Devotion because they help me keep the truth in the forefront of my mind. It is a gentle, but firm, reminder that there are more important things in life besides my comfort and there are lost people around me, desperate to be free.

Want to know more about Jody Hedlund? Visit here. 

Want to know more about fighting to end slavery? Visit here. 

I received this novel in exchange
for my honest review 
from Bethany House Publishers