Reasons I Love My Husband

I was at a lunch last week for one of our Hungary leaders who was in town. While there, another leader asked me what I liked most about T. He said that he thinks the world of T and was wondering what things I saw that attracted him to me. Since we've been married almost 14 years, the list is only getting longer, but I figured instead of waiting until Father's Day, I'd just tell you what I really love about him!

1. His Passion for Learning
T has raked up quite a bill on Amazon! He orders books, checks them out of the library, borrows them from friends and people even send him free books to review on his blog!! I told him last night he should write a book about what he does and he told me someone already did. Just not about him! For as long as I've known him, he's always changing things in his life to reflect something he's read about. I know women who have husbands who play/watch sports, who hang out in bars all night, who are needy for attention. That's just not T. Sometimes I think he'd rather take a vacation with a bunch of books than his family!! (I'm totally not kidding here!)

2. His Love for his Children
Having been a teacher, I can say that when we first were married, I was able to see T react with children, and I loved it. But I still wondered what he'd be like as a dad. He was great with my students and he loved playing with all the neighborhood kids when we lived 4 doors from my cousin. One time, in the middle of a movie we were getting ready to watch together, he jumped up, ran to the window and looked at me with those excited eyes, "They are playing capture the flag. Can I go? Do you mind??" What could I say?

Now that we have two kids of our own, even being a stay-at-home mom I get plenty of help with our two girls. I think we would have loved two more! He spends lots of time with them, doing dad things and even helping them with girl things, like brushing hair (when I ask), reading them fairy tales (when they ask!) and taking them to the mall (he actually likes shopping!). We both spend hours talking about our girls and he has certainly influenced them by what he does with our SPACE kids. He's an amazing dad.

3. He Loves Me
OK, maybe our love languages don't quite match up, but I recognize the ways in which he loves me. Mostly, by the fact that he has given me the freedom to not work right now. It has been such a blessing, especially the past couple of weeks of not feeling so great, just to know that there's no pressure to get out there and get a job. He make us a priority and listens when we're not. I've never wondered if he still loves me, and I know many women who have.

4. He's Conquered Great Odds
Many people don't know this about T, but he is an only child raised by Chinese immigrants. Culturally, he has a foot in two different worlds. His parents, while living close to us, maintain their culture and heritage by being immersed in a huge Chinese subculture. From what I've witnessed, there is little outward expression of feelings, a strong drive to succeed above everything and little emotion. Having been raised in that kind of environment, I'm always fascinated when I observe his parents to really grasp how different he is from them. He's come a long way, and he made a choice at a young age to be different.

5. He is Intentional
While he gives off the impression that he "goes with the flow", nothing could be farther from the truth. This may be why he's such a phenomenal multi-tasker. I've never denied him new forms of electronic planning gadgets, because he lives by them. He's now in love with his second Blackberry. Having one from work that he could not use personally was just way too frustrating, so he had to get his own!! But really, if you hunt through his Blackberry, you'll find that every meeting, dinner, lunch, commitment is intentionally planned for an express purpose. Of course, if you meet with him you probably won't feel like it is.

Not only is he intentional about his appointments, but if he feels like something he is doing has lost purpose, he can walk away from it. I could never do that - it's that Responsibility strength I have. For him, though, the pruning begins when intention is lost. If there is no reason to continue, you are cut from the vine. Snip! And on he moves. I guess God gave him me to make him a bit more compassionate in his pruning! ;-)

6. He has Intentional, Loving Passion for the World...
Because of his faith in God. I don't know that I've ever seen someone so in tune with God that he has embraced His heart for the world in such a unique way. Admittedly, we are not gifted with evangelism. We've seen that gift at work, and we're quite certain that it is not embodied in us. What we do know is that we are both teacher/trainers. T is much more of a discipler. He infuses passion into kids for a world they will meet through his planning, training and guidance. I really think he transfers his passion into many of the students we work with, and I'm really awed that I get to spend my life with someone like that. He has a heart for the world, the lost, the broken, the impoverished. Any student who he has spent any amount of time with can see that. His imprint on mankind is sent out in the students he will raise to harvest souls. I don't think you can do what he does unless God runs the show - it's just impossible for one person to lead, guide, train over 100 people for summer trips alone.

Well, I could certainly go on, but I think that gives you a pretty good picture of TTS. I always claim he's the person he is because of me (=)) and that's really a joke. He's the person he is because he allows his God to use him, guide him and empower him. And I'm thankful that.