we've been married almost 10 years.
crazy.
i read this quote:
you have to walk carefully in the beginning of love; the running across fields into your lover's arms can only come later when you're sure they won't laugh if you trip. ~Jonathan Carroll
and thought of us.
i am way past walking carefully
you know me so well
and you would never laugh if i trip
or if it comes out all snappy
or if i hit a post with the car
or if i rip out five hundred thousand stitches in the quilt i'm working on
for no reason other than they just didn't look right
or if a recipe in my mind doesn't translate so well to the plate
or if i want to haul five hundred thousand rocks to work into our landscaping
or if i work on little bits of this and that all morning long and don't ever accomplish one big thing
or if i cut out twenty-five little projects and sew madly on them all evening
and the same from me to you
i would never laugh if you trip
or if you need to put your headphones on and listen to your music too loud
and be somewhere where the phone can't ring and no one can need you for a little while
or if you drink too much coffee
and eat the last bit of dark chocolate out of the cupboard
and i will always let you sleep if you fall asleep on the couch,
but not for more than half an hour
so you aren't too muzzy when you wake up
i love watching you read the Word and underline something here or there
and i love to watch you play with the kids
setting up trains
and teaching checkers and chess
and teaching Maddie to draw
and even you wrestling with Isaac,
even though it scares me -
and i'm not scared that you'll hurt Isaac,
i'm scared that Isaac will hurt you
i love it that you step in and take over for me when i get overwhelmed
and you hit things head-on and cut them down to size
(whether the thing is my to-do list or the man at the bank)
and you treat me with tenderness and gentleness
yet i know that if anyone messed with me or our kids you would tear them to shreds
i love that you live with conviction
conviction that your life is not your own
conviction that you were bought with a price
conviction that your task is to testify
and part of that testimony is the way you are a husband to me
and a father to our kids
you rock at both
i love that we know what each other is thinking most of the time
and we know what to say and do to make each other laugh and take a deep breath and live in joy
i love that we quote really silly movies to each other
and that we quote them with our kids
i love that we don't do things the regular way -
like our first christmas how we couldn't wait to give each other our presents,
so we opened them all at least four days before christmas
and when we decided to get matching wedding bands
we didn't wait until an "important" anniversary
we just went for it last summer when we'd been married for eight and a half years
and that we can just sit together and sip on coffee
and that when i've been too busy you tell me to just stop and sit with you
and that you know what i need before i do sometimes
and i'm so glad that you do
i'm so grateful that the Giver of Good and Perfect Gifts saw fit to give me you and you me
and that makes what we have together good and perfect
always through His grace
i love you
~Elizabeth
