Husbands are like a T-shirt....

Well, I woke up this morning with an overwhelming feeling....it was like..."Whew! I picked the right one!" I not talking about the right house, town, or car...but my husband! Michael has been God's greatest gift to me. I used to think it was the kids. It is hard to say that it is not the kids and I don't think I would even be offended if he said the kids were God's greatest gift to him.

We "celebrated" our 16th Wedding Anniversary on Friday. It was interesting! I met him at hockey practice with the boys and as I sat down to watch them when, the tears started to roll! I had been fighting the urge to cry all day and for some reason when Mike comes around I go "off duty" with the kids and allow myself to grieve our recent loss. So, I waved him down on the ice and in (really bad) sign language told him I would meet him at home. It was a long drive, but felt very healing. I sat in bumper to bumper traffic crying and praying, weeping and pouring my heart out to God. I knew that meant I was going to be basket case for dinner. When Mike came home he said, "Alright, let's go!" I looked up at him and said basically, "No way, you're crazy, I will cry through the entire dinner, I'm not even hungry now, and WHY would we pay big bucks for that?" He said, "Okay, I know it has been hard being married to me for 16 years, but you don't have to cry about it! Now let's go!"

We did go....I did cry through my appetizer, salad, and half of my chicken with artichokes and mushrooms over wild rice. We sat there in silence eating, holding hands under the table when Mike said with a smile, "Well, I don't think we will forget this dinner anytime soon!" And he is right....I won't.

When I met him I thought he was too good to be true. I was talking to one of my girlfriends about him and told them picking a husband was like a T-shirt. I was going to choose one that is a size bigger so that when the honeymoon phase is over and they will still fit! Mike was an XL at the time so I figured that if he stopped being as sweet and shrunk down to say a size L , he would still be pretty great. I could live with that! But mark my words, he hasn't shrunk...he has grown! Hopefully I have for him, too.

So this is the point....

-Life is hard.

-Marriage is a gift.

-Whoever you are with has been ordained or allowed by God. I know they are not perfect....neither are you! If you love and nurture your marriage when hard times and trials come you will make it. If you don't....then you turn on each other.

-If you aren't married yet, CHOOSE WISELY!!!!

-If you are married to the "wrong person", be sure the one who shrunk isn't you, then pray like mad!

-If you have never been called into a marriage, remember that you are the bride of Christ and YOU get the perfect husband for all eternity!

I have watched over the last 16 years our lives change. I look at photo albums and see how full it has been and remember with heavy heart the challenges we have faced. I also look at his t-shirts on the floor in a pile on his side of the bed and think.....Thank you Lord for giving me this man and please give us more time together.