20 things I love about my husband

Today is Valentine’s Day, and as such I have been inspired to write this post.
20 reasons why I love my husband. Why I limited myself to just 20, I’m not sure. Probably because I would be here forever if I didn’t stop somewhere.

1. He is so even-tempered. He hardly ever gets angry or depressed.
2. He says what he means. None of this guesswork us girls are so famous for. If I ask him a question, he will answer me truthfully. If I say “Are you okay?” and he says “Yes”, he actually means Yes!
3. He does more than his fair share of housework and looking after the kids. He does the dishes most of the time,which makes me so happy because I HATE DOING DISHES! He vaccuums and dusts. He hangs out washing. He folds washing. He bathes the kids every night. I can probably count on one hand the number of baths I have done since I become a mum! It has always been “daddy’s job” in our house.
4. He is so patient. I have much to learn from him.
5. He never forgets our wedding anniversary or my birthday.
6. He loves me more than I ever imagined another human being could love me. And he loves me despite all my insecurities and failures.
7. He is one of the kindest people I have ever met.
8. He tells me I am beautiful, even though I’m far from it.
9. He is a wonderful father. He plays hard with the boys. He takes them to the park, the beach, bike riding. He takes them to Story Time at the library. He reads countless books. He pretends to be Buzz Lightyear.
10. He gives me time to do the things I enjoy. He takes the boys out sometimes so I can scrapbook or work in peace. He lets me sleep in at the weekend, even though we both get up at 6.15 on weekdays.
11. He inspires me to be a better person.
12. He has a great smile.
13. He is my best friend. Has been since I was 17 years old.
14. He is a man of God. He has served the Lord with his gifts for so many years in lots of different areas – Youth Group, Music Team, Kids Church. He still gives so much time and energy to Kids Church and I am proud of him for the awesome job he does.
15. He puts the toilet seat down every single time he uses it. And it only took me a few weeks to teach him that after we got married!
16. He is a great (but very messy!) cook.
17. He watches girly movies with me. He sometimes chooses them himself because he knows I like them.
18. He puts up with all my “issues” – my opinionated viewpoints, my PMS, my obsessive-compulsive personality, my anxious tendencies, my verbal diarrhoea, my pessimistic attitude.
19. He does the Winsor Pilates DVDs with me.
20. He treats me with respect. Always. He never disrespects me in front of other people.

I know I am so lucky to have Rob in my life.
Sometimes I think back to the days when we were just friends, and I wished it could be more. Two years after I first realised that I was falling for him, I found the courage to tell him. I can still remember that conversation, when he told me he also felt the same way. His Grandad had died that morning, and he was staying the night at our house because he didn’t want to be home alone. We had stayed up late talking.
I remember him saying that over the past few months he had been praying for somebody special to share his life with, someone who could laugh with him and cry with him. He told me how much it meant to him that I had cried with him that afternoon, and only a few days earlier he had been given a photo of the two of us laughing together on the holiday we took with our friends that summer. He felt that those two things were an answer to his prayer.

We’ve been together from that day on. We got engaged about 14 months later, and after a year-long engagement, we were married. Rob was almost 26 and I had just turned 21. On May 1st, we will celebrate our 7-year wedding anniversary.
I can honestly say the last 7 years have been the most wonderful 7 years of my life. We’ve had some hard times, but we know we will always be together. I just can’t imagine my life without him.
Rob, I love you. Happy Valentine’s Day, honey.