and indeed I do love my husband and I could list a whole string of reasons why I love him but that's not what I'm going to do today. I have seen lots of books and blog posts written about how to have a better relationship with your husband and how to love him and there is a wealth of information out there for people who need to see ideas as to how to get back that love they feel has dimmed but I'm not thinking in that way today. I'm just thinking of how I am so thankful to God that I still love Fred and he still loves me no matter what or who may have tried to make a difference in that situation throughout our many many many years of marriage and the 4 years of boyfriend/girlfriend. I'm thinking about the times when I look at him leading worship in church and just think "I love that man", or the times I see him helping someone with something and I think "I love that man" or when he is smiling in a conversation with a friend, or lying sleeping, or sitting reading, or playing the guitar (with his guitar stare) or when he has on that comical smile as he teases me, or when he walks into the house from a work trip abroad or when he wears a suit. Yes you were probably sitting there following those times I was talking about and sort of understanding but when I got to that last one you probably went "What???" Well I have always loved to see Fred in a suit and I still get a special happy loving feeling when I see him in a suit. I have also had many opportunities to feel like that because Fred mostly wears a suit to church and often has to wear one for work. So hasn't God been good to me giving Fred a love for church and a specific job that means I get to see him in a suit lots of times? I could go back to my list but I don't need to, I think you probably know that I simply mean that there is just that contented happy knowledge that we love each other. So what do I do when I feel like that? When he arrives home from a work trip I can hug and kiss him and talk about his trip and everything that has been going on at home and just spend a lot of time with him. Similarly when he has that comical smile on his face. When he's reading I can sit down beside him and tell him I love him. When he's sleeping I can also tell him but he doesn't hear because I'll whisper and not wake him. When he's helping someone or talking to someone else I'll just catch his eye and smile at him. When he's leading worship I thank God for him - well it's not really appropriate to run up and give him a hug or a kiss is it? Today I'm simply writing about that love we have which gives us the security in our relationship together. The love that hasn't dimmed but it could dim if we let it. That love which sometimes can be thrown out the window when there is a disagreement - but it shouldn't. That love which sometimes can be forgotten about when we have to be apart often - but it mustn't. That love which sometimes people just look on as a kind of contentment but instead it is the deep love which is cultivated by always remembering to share those feelings no matter how insignificant they may seem because they are not insignificant - Love is never insignificant. Next time you feel "I love that man" make sure you tell him at the FIRST suitable opportunity. Even if it is only in a whisper.
