My Husband, My Love

Happy Birthday to my Husband, my Love,

Today you celebrate another year of life. This is the 14th birthday I've celebrated with you, and I can honestly say I love you more now than I could have possibly imagined.

You are everything I ever dreamed about in my husband.

The Song of Solomon 2: 3-4

"Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest, so is my beloved among the young men."

You stand out from the crowd.

Your love for God is so evident. You yearn for Him, to know Him more and more. He is your God, your Lord and Master, and you lead our family to Him. Every time you interact with me and our boys, the sincerity of His love shines through you.

"In his shade I took great delight and sat down, and his fruit was sweet to my taste."

You are my protector.

I love being in your presence, beside you, in your arms.

"He has brought me to his banquet hall, and his banner over me is love."

I know you love me.

You are consistent in your love, giving your all to me and our boys.

I pray God is gracious to give us many more years together.

I love you and respect you.

FOREVER YOURS,

Allyson

My Little Boy is Becoming a Man...

I am a Mommy to 4 incredible boys. There are moments in almost every day that I find myself in complete awe that God would bless me with these 4 little men. They are amazing. Each one of them is growing SO very quickly!

I am most keenly aware of this in our oldest. It seems that with every day, we wake up to an older boy,  change having taken place seemingly overnight. He has grown so tall, and reminds me each day by telling me that "I'm short". :-) His voice is doing that cute low, high change. He laughs at himself quite often over the sudden fluctuations.  He's incredibly responsible, constantly taking on new and more difficult tasks. He's a hard worker, rarely complaining, doing his best.  He's such a blessing... and he's becoming a man right before my eyes. 

I was hit hard with this reminder yesterday...

He and I were sitting in church service, sharing his Bible, following along with the sermon passage. There was a note written in his Bible that pertained to what was being said, and he pointed it out to me. As he did so, he slid his Bible over to me, sliding physically closer to me as well. That's when I noticed something.

His arm was around me.

It wasn't just that he'd put his arm around me though. He was purposeful in it. It was the way he looked at me and smiled, the way he sat there in comfort.

As my eyes welled up, I realized, for the first ever, I felt a sense of protection under my son's arm.