Joyful, Patient, Faithful

"Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.  Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality."
     
                Romans 12:9-13

Romans 12: 9-13 was the passage we chose for our wedding, which was seven years ago today.  We chose it because it encompassed everything we wanted our married life to be.  We wanted to be sincere, unselfish people who were enthusiastic about our faith and generous to those around us.  But most of all we wanted to be content no matter our circumstances...joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 

At 22 years old, we had no idea what that meant.  We have failed miserably at times to live up to our goals.  We are both terribly selfish.  We have not been as devoted to or enthusiastic about our faith as we want to be.  We have kept time and money for ourselves that we should have freely given away. We have failed to be joyful, lost our patience, and stopped praying.

But as we approach the wise old age of 30 :) this year, I think both of us would agree that we are better people because of what God has done in our lives.  The frustrations and heartaches have taught us to be patient through the hard times and enjoy the sweet ones that much more.  We learned to pray because at times, that's all we could do.  Our goals with this passage were ambitious, but our faithful God is making sure we get there.

Today, I am grateful for a wonderful partner on the journey.  I promised Jason I wouldn't get too "flowery" in this post, but I am often quick to reprimand him in public (like when he is pushing Harper full speed through the labor & delivery floor on the luggage cart :), so I figure I should also dedicate a post to praising him.  Here are some of my favorite things about Jason:

1.  He makes me laugh. Every day. Hard.

2.  He makes other people laugh...I love to watch the "Jason show" when he gets going in a crowd.

3.  He doesn't get mad when I buy things off of Etsy, even though he constantly checks the bank account and asks me who on earth I am transferring money to through PayPal.

4.  He makes up songs ("Work Three Days" and "Hey Big Belly" are my favorite classics).

5.  He's a hard worker.

6.  He gets up with Harper on Saturday and Sunday mornings so I can sleep.

7.  He is outgoing.  I get annoyed when he acts like he's best friends with the waitress sometimes, but overall I enjoy this quality, which is good since my daughter definitely inherited it from him.

8.  He makes Harper just light up.

9.  While I've been gone, he's been keeping my house cleaner than I usually do.

10. He's in great shape! (all that stupid Tough Mudder training had its benefits :)

I hope that's not too mushy for you, J.  You are one of a kind! Love you.