He is as devoted of a husband as they come. He treats me with respect, kindness and patience.
He is a hard worker. He never looks for excuses, he just does. He's a doer.
He is an amazing father of four that love the pieces out of him. He is a hands-on dad. He is a patient dad.
He has high standards and a brilliant testimony.
He has three brothers, all of the same caliber. Not quite as fabulous as the brother I snagged, but pretty amazing guys, nonetheless. :)
As a mother of three boys, I am naturally curious of how he turned out to be the man he is.
I stayed up late one night, probing him like an investigative reporter, determined to find out the secret so that I might pass it down to my children.
He never had a sister, his mom was the only woman in their family. His dad always treated her like she was something out of the ordinary. They weren't allowed in the door before his mom had a chance to come inside first. Speaking to her in any form of disrespect was not tolerated. She was different. She was more delicate than the rest of them, she smelled better, and she was softer.
He learned that women are something out of the ordinary and should be treated as such.
His dad's parents were both teachers and later principals. Education was always talked about and it became clear very quickly how important a good education was to his father. He passed that conviction down to his sons.
My husband's parents raised their kids with the idea that if they wanted something, they had to work for it. From their bikes, to Christmas lights, to their education.
He got a good education and he became a hard worker.
My husband tells me his dad never parented out of emotion. He was always calm and spoke to them calmly even when they were in trouble. He says his dad was strict but never angry. And, his dad always took an interest in what interested them.
My husband learned to be a great father.
God and their religion was always important to his parents. It was weaved into their day to day life. He says, no, they weren't perfect with family prayer and scripture study but we grew up knowing it was important. And, there were some things that we knew there was just no getting around. Family night every Monday at 7:00pm and church every Sunday, even on vacations...which we hated.
I am grateful for those things because that's what helped build the strong convictions my husband has today.
Then there's me.
I don't take life too serious.
I have fun with my kids.
I make pretty good decisions. (it may take me awhile, but they're usually good ones!)
I dote on my handsome husband.
I love to cook and know the importance of eating dinner together as a family.
And, I have an undeniable testimony of who I am, where I am going, that my family can be together for eternity, and that I have a Father in Heaven who loves me.
As I thought about my husband's upbringing, I realized mine was different. Not bad or worse than his, just different.
I was raised by parents who laughed, a lot. In fact, I think that's mostly all my mom did...
I could go on forever about story after story of incidents where the last thing the situation at hand called for was laughter, but, that's what my mom always did, laugh. My mom always played with us. I think even my dad would shake his head sometimes and wonder when she was ever going to grow up. My family was definitely not a serious one, that's for sure!
My parents taught me not to take life too serious. Heavenly Father put us on this earth to have fun and to laugh and to love.
My dad is a wise man. He is good at thinking analytically and unbiased. Instead of always giving me the answers, he would help me think it through logically and come up with my own answers.
I am grateful that that rubbed off on me. Those lessons have helped me make some of the most important decisions in my life as well as the seemingly mundane ones.
I remember my dad coming home from a long day at the dairy. He would plop down on the couch and my mom would take his boots off and rub his feet. I remember being little and watching my mom put on makeup in the middle of the afternoon. I would ask where she was going and she would respond, "Nowhere. You're daddy will be home soon and I want to look good for him." My mom's mom was the queen at doting on your man. You were never to get your plate of food without first making a plate for your man and making sure he was taken care of. To this day, you will get yelled at if your man is standing around empty handed when there is food to be eaten. When you make your guy feel like he's "the man", he in turn, will treat you with love, respect and gratitude in return.
It's an inherited trait to dote on your man in my family and I love it!
Another inherited trait from both sides of my parents' family is the love of cooking. I'm grateful for a mom that loved to cook from scratch. She taught me the importance of a good home cooked meal and sitting around a table of family, sharing in those savory efforts.
Like most families, we had family prayer, scriptures, and family home evening, but were not perfect at it. But, I learned from the example of my parents how important prayer and scripture study is. I remember coming into my parents bedroom, long after we were supposed to be in bed to ask a question and finding my dad immersed in the scriptures or several occasions walking in on my mom, knelt beside her bed in prayer.
I learned where to turn for peace and answers not because my parents told me, but because they showed me through their example. I know I have a father in heaven that loves me because he hears and answers my prayers.
I am so grateful for two amazing sets of parents. This job of raising children is definitively not an easy one, but I hope that someday, despite my shortcomings, my kids can look back and find some good in the job I did as their mom.
