Thankful for My Man

Thanksgiving is this week so I thought I’d focus my entries this week around what we do for this holiday and why I love it so much.

I love Thanksgiving because it starts the holiday season. You see, I love the time beginning this week all through the end of the year. It is full of fun, family, memories, and love. My mom always made the holidays so full of love. My hubby proposed to me in the month of December. It is a very special month.

When I was young, we lived in Ohio. My mom is one of 7 children so holidays spent with her side of the family were lots of noise, fun, and love. I have fond memories of family gatherings when I was little. I have awesome cousins! Unfortunately I haven’t seen them in ages but that is the way of life when so much time passes, families expand and move to other states but I still have those wonderful memories.

During this week, I especially think about the things for which I am thankful. God tops my list, because without Him I could not make it in this life. He gives me such strength, peace, and joy that I cannot comprehend how people make it throughout this life without Him.

My dear husband Mike is second on my thankful list. He loves me so unconditionally that I am without words. He has put up with my struggles, supporting me, caring for me, and loving me through them. He deserves an award for his long suffering through my weight issues. He has consistently provided for our family allowing me to stay home with them, never asking me to get a job. He has been my rock on whom I have relied. When I get down or depression tries to overtake me, he is my awesome friend who cajoles me out of it, acting silly if necessary. He is my biggest supporter, my love, my best friend, my confidant, on whom I can depend.

I’m thankful for my ever growing family that provide so many memories, fun, joy, and love. There are so many things I could say about my children (including my daughter-in-love), my parents and the rest of my extended family but today is about marriage, so I’ll try to stay on topic.

I’m so thankful that God knew it was not good for man to be alone and thus created woman, that the two would be one. Although it is true that I am complete in Him (God), I am definitely one that feels more complete in this life with my hubby. We have our ups and downs, our fights and our celebrations but even when we have disagreements, he is still one of the best gifts God has given me or allowed me to have. I am so blessed to have this man in my life.

I guess the key to feeling blessed and fulfilled in marriage is to focus on the good and overlook the bad (unless it is an abusive situation). The bad looks so much worse if that is what you are focusing and the good so hard to find. But if you focus on the good and look for things to be thankful for about your hubby, it is harder to see the bad or let it control you. You see, when you focus on the bad, you are empowering it to tear apart your marriage but focusing on the good supports, undergirds, and strengthens your marriage.

I challenge you to find one thing about your hubby that you are thankful for. Think about it, really focus on it. Then tell him that he blesses you by it. Even if, by some strange chance, it doesn’t really mean anything to him, it will to you, as you focus on the good in him, you will see less of the bad. Next time he leaves the toilet seat up (or whatever infraction he perpetrates) think about that good thing and other good things about him and that imperfection will seem less annoying in the end. When Mike does something that annoys me, I try to remember that I am not perfect either and he puts up with me.