What A Nice Way To Wake Up

After my shower this morning, this is what was waiting for me downstairs.

Fresh coffee, flowers (for no special reason), and a love note.

My son, Brian, reminded me (unnecessarily) that I really do have the best husband.  Ever.  Period.

Awwwwww.

My cell phone camera stinks.  And of course I woke him up with the stupid shutter sound that I should have deactivated.  But aw, shucks, anyway!

Chronicle

Our friends had a tree come down in their backyard during a recent storm.  Unfortunately, it came to rest entangled in some phone lines, which left their neighbors without phone service.  The phone company told our friends they would not come out to restore service until the tree was removed by the homeowners, namely, our friends.  

Long story short - my husband volunteered to take down the tree in exchange for the firewood.  We thought Brian would be around to help, but it turned out that he was either busy or gone each day.  

That didn't stop Andy, of course.

Phone lines - stronger than they look.

Two days and three chainsaws later - mission accomplished.

Love Is...

I know it only looks like a light switch, but it means so much more than that.

Our lives are crazy busy right now.  My greatest wish is to have an afternoon when I can just stay home.  I am perpetually running here and there shuttling kids, doing errands both compassionate and mundane, fulfilling commitments.  My house is not a peaceful place to be because my hectic non-schedule has me constantly behind the housework 8-ball.  

I am so envious of people who have time to just sit down and read a newspaper or sit on the porch swing without being crushed by the awareness of everything that has been left undone and is waiting for me.

My husband works a rotating 12-hour swing shift, so he's usually gone, sleeping, or here, there, and all over the place between work and his own commitments.  Our hours with him are frequently seldom and precious.  

And yet, not too long ago, he used one of his rare afternoons at home to replace the ugly, faulty, fluorescent light bar in the bathroom with an attractive, reliable bar of globe lights, and updated the light switch to include two outlets, since there were no electrical outlets in the bathroom before this.  Now there is a nightlight and a plug for a hairdryer.  I feel so grateful every time I go into that bathroom and flip the switch.

I know it seems small and insignificant, but it is one of the many sacrifices, large and small, that this man makes for his family and for me.  It makes me feel loved beyond comparison.

Back in the 80s, we used to cut out these comics for each other all the time, and include them when we passed notes to each other between classes in high school.  We thought they were so appropriate to us, since we truly loved each other so much.  It wasn't until re-reading them after 22 years of marriage that I began to appreciate how profound these simple cartoons really are.

We thought we knew what love was back then.

But now I know the truth.

Love is......a light switch.

Happy Father's Day, Hon.

Thank you, Lord, for the steady, hard-working husband and father with which we've been blessed.