Day 21

Thanking God for...

My sweet husband ~ 49 years old today! And I've had 24 years of those with him, almost half his life! I never fail to look at our life together and see the unmistakable providence of God in giving me Keith as my husband ~ perfect for me. I am thankful for his love for me, his patience, his wisdom, his forgiveness, and his commitment to our marriage & family. There are so many things I find interesting about him: physically, so strong; He can still do that round kick & smash a board with his foot (taekwondo). He can name just about every tree in the woods (ok, weird thing: that was one of the first things I found so cool about him when we first were getting to know each other... why that was appealing, I have no idea ~ but it still is!!). He can paint like no body's business and is incredibly artistic. He can cook, as well ~ in fact, he's the reason I learned to cook: he fixed this incredible fettuccine alfredo for me on one of our first dates. I was very intimidated and got busy learning to do some things in the kitchen. Last night, he fixed the best batch of gumbo (from scratch! even the roux!) for his b-day dinner with friends. The list could go on & on. He's very cool, very interesting ~ and he loves the LORD. I am blessed.

Getting to sing Christmas songs along with Mem, with a little bit of Big-E thrown in from time to time. I'm skimming the paper, singing along with Reliant K. Mem is making a cake, singing absent-mindedly. We are almost always on the same note because we're both altos. Big-E walks through, going from the score on TV to the kitchen, joining in with his baritone without thinking. I'm the only one noticing... that's okay. It's that 6th parent sense thing that kicks in with the first breath of the first-born. Everything gains another layer that only parents get. Little things like singing along with you kids are huge, huge. Treasures for your head. Gifts.

The opportunity to sit, week after week, between my daughter and my best friend in choir. We sing together on Sunday mornings and work hard together in choir practice. We also laugh a lot, cry some, and enjoy together the moments when our hearts are fully, undistractedly, worshipping the LORD. I hope I get to sing like that in Heaven some: Mem, me, and Viv. I think we'll still laugh a lot!