If I had my druthers….

…this would be our cottage-on-a-loch…

…and we would have furniture, comforters, pillows and perhaps even wallpaper that looked like this…

…and this…

…and this, which is the tartan of my ancestors…

…or this, which is the plaid of my warm flannel nightgown…

…and you could come visit us and stay in our guestroom that looked like this…

…and when the hustle and bustle of our hectic loch life became too noisy and too much for us, we would steal away to our little vacation cottage here…

…and I guess I would have to learn to cook with one of these…

…and even though Michael would probably love it, I don’t think I’d ever be able to make this…

…but I think I could be talked into baking a lot of these…

…and I’m not sure what Edith and Mildred would think when we brought home one of these…

…but maybe they’d forgive us if we took them for daily walks in places like this…

…but that’s only if I had my druthers…

Our next wedding anniversary will be our thirtieth, and we’re looking forward to celebrating with a trip to the UK later this year. Today I want to share a few things I love about my husband in honor of our most recent anniversary.

I love:

1.  his one-of-a-kind smile

2.  the way he compliments my cooking (last night as he was eating my homemade spaghetti sauce he said, “Wonderful! Awesome! You could sell this on a corner somewhere!”)

3.  his patience

4.  his ability to say he’s sorry

5.  the way he’s not afraid to cry

6.  when he once forgot I was taking a friend to the airport for an early morning flight and searched the whole house for me, including under all the beds

7.  the way he has such a soft spot in his heart for dogs, and croons to our schnauzers as they gaze at him adoringly

8.  his faithfulness to me for 29 years

9.  his muscular V-shaped back

10.  his quirkiness

11.  the way he endures his Parkinson’s with grace and humility

12.  his desire to give to others

13.  the way he willingly scratches the ridges in my ankles left by my SmartWool socks

14.  the way he will dance a jerky little jig if anyone asks him to

15.  how much loved he is by his friends

16.  his big, kind eyes

17.  his flexibility in scheduling

18.  the way he rubs my right hand when we’re traveling to the Cities and I’m driving with my left

19.  his expertise and hard work that made our house of 24 years a cherished haven

20.  his love for adventure and travel

21.  the way he kneels with me to pray for our children, and puts his arm around my shoulders

22.  his rock-solid faith in Jesus

23.  how he tells me he thinks my rear end is getting smaller when it’s not

24.  how he makes me feel young and pretty even when I see old and frumpy in the mirror

25.  how he would never, ever leave

26.  his call to me to come and read the Bible with him in the morning

27.  how he thinks our daughters are the finest young women to ever walk the earth

28.  the way he kisses my cheek when we’re standing in line at the grocery store

29.  his unwavering certainty that God is at work and will bring good from any difficult circumstances our loved ones are experiencing, and the way he keeps reminding me of it…

He is God’s gift to me.

(The collage will enlarge if you click on it)

…My cup overflows…Surely your goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever…

Psalm 23:5b-6

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Thank you Lord. Thank you. Thank you…