10 Things I Love About You

Tomorrow marks nine years of marriage for me and Autumn. We started dating when we were seventeen. She's the first woman I ever fell in love with, my high school sweetheart, the mother of my children, and a better wife than I deserve. In her honor, I'd like to make a list of all the things I love about her, but I'd be up all night writing. So, for the sake of me getting up for work tomorrow, here are the first ten that come to mind:

1. She's one of those rare girls who are incredibly beautiful, but don't seem to realize it. Sometimes I wish she could see herself through my eyes just for a moment, so she could see how stunning and breathtaking she really is.

2. She's an awesome mother. Some women sacrifice their careers for their children, my wife works a job that is beneath her at night so she can spend her days with our kids.

3. She is one of the strongest people emotionally that I have ever met. She has the ability to love people with everything in her without worrying about being hurt. I often tease her about how open she is with her emotions, but the truth is it is among her greatest strengths.

4. She has an unshakable faith. For all my knowledge of hermeneutics, Greek, and Hebrew she can still put me to shame with simple observations about how God is working in our lives.

5. She loves my friends. I know women who don't like their husband's friends. I know women who simply tolerate their husband's friends. My wife adopted my friends as her own. She hangs out with them, laughs with them, and looks forward to being with them. I've seldom had to worry about how I divide my time between her and them.

6. She fits nicely in my arms.

7. She's brave in ways I can barely imagine. She followed me to through ministry, into California and back, and through planting a church. There's been times where we've been so poor we didn't know how we were going to make rent or buy food. I've watched her go back to school, give birth to two children, and sit with her mom through the final stages of cancer. Through all of this, I've never seen fear get the better of her or stop her from doing anything that she knew had to be done.

8. She thinks of others more than herself.

9. I've always found her interesting. When we were first dating she would tell me the same stories over and over again, but I'd never tell her because I just liked to hear her talk. Even when we weren't saying anything to each other I loved just being around her. After twelve years together the passion has calmed down a bit, but I still find myself enjoying those same stories or just watching her from time to time, as fascinated now as I was back then.

10. She is one of the few people I know that can make a bad day better just by smiling at me.