I’m still working on one box, despite the months of living here.
It’s a process.
Last year with my illness and our house mess, my brain was just not able to tackle random paperwork.
Taxes, bills, and medical I had a system for and could deal with.
Everything else went into this box.
So, little by little I’m getting through it.
I found several Mother’s Day cards from my sweet husband today.
I knew exactly where to put them.
When we moved I had a package of really old notes he’d written me and a few photos.
I didn’t know where to put them at first.
Then it hit me.
I’m in love with my husband.
How would I have dealt with notes and photos when we first fell in love?
Top drawer of my dresser, bound with ribbon, of course!
So, why not do the same thing?
Just because we’ve been married for 22 years doesn’t mean I should stop living in love.
Infact, I should do it better than before.
I didn’t understand what love was. I just knew how I felt.
It’s through my walk with Jesus and His love, that I’ve learned how to love my husband.
Living in love looks different now than before.
But that doesn’t change the fact that I can live in love with my husband and my Jesus, every day.
Obviously, my health and our schedule can inhibit things, but the special little pleasures of first falling in love and being newly married can be remade into today.
Infact, it can be ever better than before.
Because I deeply love my husband and he loves me.
I ask the Lord regularly how to better love my husband.
How to cherish our marriage.
How to find new ways to be a blessing and a help to him.
Because it’s in the little things where love grows deep.
What things do I think about him?
Do my thoughts build him up or tear him down? Am I praying for him, especially in the areas which bring me concern or am I simply complaining?
How do I handle disappointment and disagreement?
Do I rest my expectations upon God or my spouse? Am I willing to be wrong or to let go of my way of doing something? Do I need to find a more creative way to express myself to help him understand me and my perspective?
Where do I find my value? My comfort and my stability?
If my life isn’t focused on Jesus and how He gives me value, stability, and love, I wouldn’t be able to love my husband correctly, or even well.
Love is a verb.
Which means I make a daily, purposeful choice to do it in any way God leads.
Because living in love is far more than the emotions.
And it’s value is priceless.
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
I John 4:7 NKJV
patientlyhopeful 