Valentine's Day

This was my favorite married Valentine's day.  To be fair, the other three were less than stellar.  This was for a myriad of reasons... some still to close to the chest to reveal.  Others born from lack of communication, expectations, etc. Suffice it to say, they are not my favorite memories.

But this year.  Oh, this year.

Out of nowhere a few weeks ago, in the middle of the Sunday rush, I turned to Josh and said, "Can I just tell you exactly what I want for Valentine's Day?"  Granted, I have no idea what sparked this very out of character direct question from me.  He looked at me with a mixture of utter surprise and fear.  "Yes"

And so, I told him that what my heart really desired was a card and some flowers.  That was it.

I felt like I had ruined Valentine's Day by taking all the fun and spontaneity out of it.  Then I realized that relying on spontaneity was what left us with confusion and hurt feelings in previous years.  Maybe that's a 10 years of marriage level of mastery.  Who knows.  But what I did know was that as soon as I uttered the words, I felt foolish.

However, Josh later informed me that this was the most loving and romantic thing I could have done. (I'm pretty sure I gave him a mean side eye at this point.)

He explained that often times he wants to do something, but gets overwhelmed with options/expectations/fear, and ends up doing nothing.  So now, by telling him exactly what I needed, he felt free to operate within some limits, and offer himself wholeheartedly to me.

Huh.  Who'd have thought.

And you know what he did?  He gave himself freely.  And my heart responded.

He took me to lunch at a fancy place when I was home sick from work.

He surprised me, after a long day of work, and I walked into a PERFECTLY cleaned house.  I'm talking kitchen, living, bathroom, and bedroom.  Seriously.

He let me sleep late the day of, and woke me up grinning from ear to ear, holding the most beautiful tulips I've ever seen (yes, my favorite flower, ftw) and a funny, yet heartfelt card, and chocolates.

He held my hand and took me out for breakfast, and told me just what I mean to him.

And later, we showed our love for one another in the most beautiful expression.  Just the way God intended it to be.  Redemptive, indeed.

That night, we set aside time specifically for a single friend, for whom we knew the day would be hard.  I made a special supper, complete with cheesy decorations and chocolate covered strawberries.  And we laughed and celebrated the community that God has so graciously given us.

As I lay in bed that night, my heart full, and my eyes heavy, I thought about what a true blessing marriage is.  And how God uses this gift to work his redemptive plan in our lives.  And I fell asleep with a smile on my face.  Thankful beyond words for this day and this man.