sunday meditations

One of the things that I have always loved about my husband is how he makes the things in my life important to him. I am not just talking about big things like faith and family. I am talking about all the little things too. At this point in my life, I see some people my age frustrated because they have nothing in common with their spouses anymore. Although faith and family can bridge that gap, I am grateful that my husband can talk with me about all of my interests.

I thought about this recently when school ended. The second grade team had an end of the school year party. Spouses were not invited, but when I showed up without Doug several people asked me where he was? I answered that I didn't think spouses were invited and the response was something like, well, they aren't but your husband is different. He talks with my co-workers as easily as I do. He is always up on their concerns about school and about life. He helps me decorate bulletin boards from tasks as mundane as putting up background, to helping me design a new theme from the get go and brainstorming how to make it happen.

When we moved to Florida, I felt like I was moving to the end of the earth...that was before Argentina, when we really did move to the end of the earth. I told him I wanted to buy jet skis so we could play together as a family, but it was also something I thought I could manage on my own when he wasn't able to join us because of his extensive work schedule. It was clear that he always worried about us when we went out on our own, and he always listened to our adventures with enthusiasm. He didn't share my love of waterskiing however and when he was with us he was the designated driver. About six years ago, the girls taught him how to ski and he enjoyed it so much that I started pressuring him to learn to slalom a few years later. He was not enthusiastic. As time went on he agreed to try and I believe he enjoys it now every bit as much as I do.

Although his Sundays are full and he often attends more than one Sacrament meeting himself, he always comes home and wants to know all about my Sunday...who spoke, who I talked with and generally what went on in my day.

He looks with interest at flowers budding in my garden. When we went on our trip to Montreal, he spent a Sunday afternoon at the botanical gardens because I wanted to go there and never asked for equal time doing something that would be more interesting to him.

He goes shopping with me even when it is something as mundane as groceries. Although he doesn't like to shop for himself, he is always happy to shop for me. He pays attention to current trends in style and things and colors that would look good on me. When we lived in the UK, he would come back to the States and shop for me and the girls and has seldom missed the mark when purchasing for any of us.

Of course, I hope that I have made the things in his life important to me. But I can say for sure that he has truly been successful in making me feel loved by being interested in every aspect of my life.