on a day for romance...

A few weeks ago, I was going through the room in our house that used to be my "office". Now it's going to be the nursery - once baby #2 arrives this spring.

As I sorted boxes that had been stuffed in the closet, and sifted papers that had stacked up -- I came across a shoebox of love letters.

I'm a lucky girl. My PH writes. He writes cards, emails, letters. Occasionally even notes (although not as often). I have a card from him, with way more than a signature inside, for nearly every holiday and event over the past 10 years.

He even writes romantic messages on the little cards they stick into bouquets. I have this miniature Hallmark envelope where I've kept every card from every significant bouquet.

There's one from every anniversary. One or two from "apology flowers" after we'd had a fight. One is in Italian, from the gorgeous yellow and pink roses he managed to get delivered to my classroom in Florence, Italy, during the summer I spent studying abroad in our 2nd year of marriage. (He was stuck in summer classes at seminary and couldn't come.) That made an impression on my classmates!

I used to keep the tiny envelope of them in my bible, where I could pull them out and remind myself how blessed I am to be loved by a godly man. Then my son got old enough to paw through my stuff, and I had to find a safer place!

As I organized, I almost threw away a card with Russian words across the top. My Russian isn't as great as it used to be, but I still can read that it says "Happy Birthday". I grabbed it back from the trash pile, to double check who it was from.

...my studly pastor-husband...

Inside, a piece of paper was glued in, with typed English words. And then I remembered...

In 2008, my job took me to Moscow and Nizhny Novgorod to lecture about reaching young postmodern adults at an evangelism training session for pastors from across Russia. It was the first time in our marriage that we hadn't spent my birthday together. Somehow he managed to find a way to order a huge hand-delivered bouquet of roses and a chocolate cake to the place I was staying! To this day he refuses to divulge his secret strategy on pulling that off. :)

Definitely not throwing THAT birthday card away!

Now, I know that not every man might show his feelings in the same ways that mine does. Not every husband is a great romantic writer. Not every husband remembers to buy flowers, or goes to great lengths to deliver a chocolate birthday cake on the opposite side of the world.

But there are reasons you love him, just the same. There are things he does that make you melt now and then. There are aspects about him that you admire, and appreciate, and trust.

Yes, Valentine's Day may be a contrived holiday that mostly benefits big business, but it's still a good reminder to let him know all those things that you love about him. Tell him why you adore him. Affirm his calling. Let him know how proud you are to be his wife, his lifetime companion. Puff him up a bit with all your compliments. It'll do his heart good.

And if for some reason this isn't a happy time in your marriage, if you're having a hard time remembering just why it was that you fell in love with him in the first place, then maybe it's a good time to get help. To start fresh. To commit to rebuilding what once was.

Whatever the state of your romance, today is an opportunity to make things beautiful again.

Happy Valentines!




Share

 
© CLUTCH, 2009-2011 unless otherwise sourced.
Use allowed by express written permission only.
Tweets, trackbacks, and link sharing encouraged.