Project Thankful - Day 2

This man... Call it cheesy, label me as a "sap," say what you want, but today I am going to tell you why I am grateful for my man. :)

John and I have been married for almost 8 years and if you had told me 8 years ago that I was going to be an Army chaplain's wife I would have laughed in your face & then probably would have said something really nasty about "The Army." When we were first married the Army & I didn't really get along. You see, the big bad Army took this new bride's hubs & deployed him to far off Iraq for a year. It was the first of the year-long deployment rotations and I didn't really take to the idea very kindly. But during that year God was good. God gave me girlfriends to help grow me up, walk me through the ins & outs of being an Army wife, and more importantly God placed a calling on our lives that would change us forever. God called John to the Army chaplaincy & I am very grateful that John said "yes."

When we got married I knew I was getting a good guy. A man who loved Jesus & who loved me & who was willing to go the distance for this thing called "marriage." I know that we still have a lifetime to go and lots of learning & living still to do... During the past 8 years seeing John's heart grow, learning to love people like Jesus, & continually say "yes" to God and his calling have made me love my man all the more. Seminary, living in Portland, OR, great friends, and attending a wonderful church all helped to shape the man I am so very grateful to serve with today. The last 8 years have made me realize that I didn't just get a "good" but rather an amazing guy... and for that I am grateful!

I am grateful that my man is a man in every sense of the word. (You know that Brad Paisley song "I'm Still a Guy" - that's John!) He loves jumping out of planes, "playing in the dirt" with his soldiers, wrestling with our kiddos, and digging deep into the word of God. I'm grateful that John is a grace-filled believer & follower of Jesus - always asking his soldiers what their story is so he can dig deeper, relate more, and hopefully know how to pray & serve them better. I'm grateful that John loves me - & I mean more than on a surface "feeling" level - I mean he initiates (often) sacrificial action to meet the deep & personal needs that I have. I am grateful that he is an amazing & very invested father who actively expresses the love he has for our children. I am grateful that he helps put groceries away, changes diapers, balances the accounts, pays the bills, and does the laundry. I am grateful that John is humble & is willing to learn from mistakes & others. I am grateful that I get to walk this journey called "life" with my man & that I know he is with me for the entire journey. I am so grateful that I get to be married to a man whose focus is, more often than not, living outside of himself, meeting the needs of others, and loving with no strings attached... I wouldn't want to imagine life any other way.