Day 39: Coffee and Bagels

Yesterday, I left church between services to pick you up for the second morning service. On the way home, I stopped at the grocery store to buy coffee for you and bagels for you and the girls. Unfortunately, I locked the keys in the car. So, I called someone from church who graciously drove to our house, picked up the keys, then drove them to me. We ended up being 15 minutes late for church. But, you loved that I bought you coffee and a bagel. In fact, you told several people at church how sweet I was to do that (I got a little embarrassed). It’s interesting–you seem to appreciate the small acts of love just as much as or more than the extravagant ones. Maybe I should save my energy and do something small for you every day!

Day 38: “Shopping” Day

On Saturday, I told you to go shopping with your mom for the day (that’s right–the entire day) while I took care of the older two girls. While you were gone, I took them on a daddy-daughter date. We went on a bike ride to a local hamburger place. They watched a puffer fish in an aquarium as they waited for their food (“Hey, that fish has pokey things all over it just like on Finding Nemo!”), then they wolfed down some chicken strips and fries, spilling two glasses of water in the process. Afterwards, we went to a nearby park where we played hide and seek. We had a blast! When we met you at home, we were expecting you to be excited out of your mind because of all the clothes you bought. You weren’t. Don’t get me wrong–you were very grateful for the chance to have a shopping day with your mom. However, you and your mom never got to go shopping. You were understandably bummed. Then, I felt bad as I told you about my amazing day with the girls and we both wished that you would’ve joined us. For this act of love, I guess it’s the thought that counts.

For my final prayer session (see day 34), I asked God to unite us so we could together have an impact on the world. I prayed that God would give us the grace we need to raise our kids in him and to love our friends, family, and the rest of the world. I want our marriage to serve as a witness to our kids and to the world that God is great and that a good marriage is possible! I want to spend our energy not on keeping our marriage tolerable, but on loving and serving each other and then together loving and serving others. We actually know some couples like this (unless they’re good at hiding things). We’re blessed to have one of them mentoring us.

PS: I (finally) organized my books (see day 20). I realize I took 18 days to finish, but in my defense, we were gone six of those days for a wedding. Now, all the books are either on the bookshelf or on my desk.