The blessing of a good man

I was reminded recently by a dear friend that these years of finishing our homeschooling journey and shuffling off our kids into adult life are stressful on marriages. They are. Change is stressful, and there sure is lots of it going on as we complete our primary vocation as moms, finish up our primary job of educating our children at home, and adjust to life face-to-face for the first time in decades with our husbands. It is very quiet, after not being quiet for years. There seems to be a dirth of meaningful activity for a while.

I have sometimes worried about how life would be, now that I am "grown up", and Dave and I don't have the boys around any more. It is such a change in dynamics! But during this cancer trial, Dave has been so amazing, that at least for the moment (since my faithless heart forgets so easily) I am no longer afraid that our relationship won't be enough. I have been blessed with a godly husband who loves me like Christ loves the church, and lays down his life for me. The most amazing things have happened recently...

The fatigue that comes with radiation is strange. I can go from feeling great and relatively "normal", to complete melt-down, blubbering mass in a matter of minutes. Nine times out of ten, when the fatigue is hitting me and making itself known to my mind, Dave walks up and says, "Time to get home!" or "Time to lay down for a while!" He watches and notices the signs, pretty much before I do. How is that for loving your wife well?

Another aspect of breast cancer is that with all the surgery and radiation, the black marks and X's everywhere, I rarely feel very beautiful. Dave seems to notice this, too, and will say quietly while giving me a hug, "You're still my girl!" This always makes me smile, and often makes me cry. What a relief and blessing to belong to someone, and continue to be his girl after 28 years of marriage, cancer and scars for both of us, children grown and gone, and changes everywhere on the horizon!

I am thankful to God for this great blessing of a good and godly man. And Dave, I'm thankful to you, too, for the choices you make every day that preserve our marriage, and show a picture of Christ and His church to the broken world. I love you!