Thankfulness...

In honor of this past weekend's holiday, I want to say how incredibly thankful I am for my husband. I could never begin to name all the reasons I am thankful for him, but I have five of the most important ones surrounding me each day. Also, the fact that they surround ME each day and not someone else (a teacher, a day care worker) gives me yet another cause to count my blessings. My husband never makes me feel like I should be "contributing" to our household financially. He never belittles the "job" I have in raising and schooling our children. In God's eyes, and in ours, he is the one who is ultimately responsible for the way our children are raised and I am the one who, under his authority, carries out the day to day.

I am so blessed to be married to a man. That may sound ridiculous, but if you think about it, in the Biblical sense, there are not really all that many men left. There are humans who are male, yes, and many of them are married - however, real men are hard to come by. My older daughter laments this fact as she gets older and knows how very difficult it is going to be for her to find a husband.

1 Corithians 16:13 says, "Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong."

Our world is not known for is men anymore. In fact, our culture feminizes men and glorifys women who act like men. It is a sick twist to a decaying society.

I am so thankful that as I analyze this verse, I can say that I am married to a MAN. My husband is watchful. He is careful about our family. He protects us. Not just physically, like in the case of an intruder, but spiritually and emotionally. He does not hesitate to let me know that my schedule is too packed and the children's relationships with us and each other are suffering for it. He helps me get back on track.

He is firm in his faith. He loves Jesus first, me second, and our children next before work or any other outside obligations. With those things in their proper place, life works.

He is standing in the midst of a twisted and perverse generation, where 68% of men in the church are addicted to pornography. With stats like that, I think it would be a safe assumption that close to ALL men outside of the church have porn issues. Why would they not?

He is committed to his family, no matter what. Our marriage is not always perfect.

Do you want to see my shocked face?! You thought we were all butterflies and rainbows around here didn't you?

Sorry to disappoint, but we have the same struggles as every other married couple. Sometimes we are blissfully happy and sometimes we wonder what in the heck we were thinking?? However, always we are committed. Always. I never have to wonder if we will be married in 20 years. We will or one of us will be with Jesus. That is just the way it is. It gives our kids amazing security.

My husband is strong. Physically, he is strong from working out and participating in triathlons. He exercises regularly and stays in great shape. He looks amazing! ;) But, that is not the best part. The best part is that he is strong spiritually, in all the ways I just talked about. He is committed, faithful, protective. I know that he will always be there for us.

In short - he is a man. A real man. The kind that this world has too few of. I pray every single day that my daughters will find real men to marry. I also strive daily to raise three more real men for someone else's daughters. Please, if you have sons, raise them to be men. Men who will stand firm for their families - committed and strong. Ready to do battle....for such a time as this.