The New Adjective

In 2012, for our 20^th anniversary, I described you in the following way:

• ·  Strong
• ·  Committed
• ·  Logical
• ·  Very funny
• ·  Smart
• ·  Calming 
• ·  Generous

And so you have continued to be for the past ten years.  But they’ve been ten long years, the most difficult of our lives.  The challenges have been many and exhausting. God has strengthened our perseverance and honed our ability to forgive, every day. 

The adjective I would add to the list now is:  devoted.

You are devoted to my health and well-being.  You are devoted to the goals we have set for the growth of our children, even when it feels like we’ve failed every day. In other words, you are devoted to your vocation.  Devotion is love in action. You know the final goal, heaven, and you consciously work toward it for both yourself and our family, every day.

For 25 years you focused on the role of provider. In the last five you have become more and more attentive to the role of protector.  I appreciate everything you do to keep us prepared for whatever the future may bring.  I love it when you tell the boys that they need to learn to be my protectors.  That may be truer than we know someday.  I am grateful that you are teaching the boys to become virtuous, strong Catholic men and that you are showing our girls what to look for in a husband should they choose marriage as their vocation.  They all absorb more than you think.

There’s so much to do and so little time.  Let’s keep our eyes on the four balls that we juggle, every day.  Let’s keep fighting the good fight—because it is a fight that, with His help, we must win.

"Let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith."  --Hebrews 12:1-2

I hope you enjoy this video of memories from the past ten years.  Look back at the first twenty here.