Thursday, February 18, 2016

True Love

My husband's birthday is tomorrow, and this has inspired me to break out my old friend, the blog, and put pen to paper about what I have learned about true love.  (Although my witty son, who just pre-read this for me, asked me if this was an expression because I am not actually putting pen to paper.)

Zach is the epitome of true love to me.  When I try to tangibly think about our God's great love for me, I first think of Zach's constant, selfless, unconditional love, and this helps me to better begin to comprehend's God's love for his people.


Our love story began in college when we were just teenagers.  We locked eyes often, talked for hours, snuck around campus late at night to find quiet places to talk, and prayed about each step of our relationship.  We prayed when we had our DTR (define the relationship) talk, we talked at great length about what it would mean to say the words, "I love you," and we decided up in a tree overlooking Lake Valentine that we wanted to get married.  We shared our first kiss the night before I left for the semester to go on a study abroad trip, and we really fell in love when he came to visit me in England for a week and we traveled the country together.  He proposed Thanksgiving weekend in a quiet moment by the Christmas tree, and we couldn't help but wake the whole house to tell them.  My heart ached when he left for four months to go study and serve in India during our engagement, and we couldn't stop kissing when he came home.  He was a bundle of nerves on our wedding day because he did not enjoy all of the attention and pressure of being the one to look at, but it was still a sacred day, indeed.  We spent our honeymoon in the mountains of Utah and have not stopped holding hands since.  He knows me better than I probably know myself.  My eyes still brim with tears when I think about him and our love, and our eyes still speak thousands of words of love when we look at each other.  And although the romance of flowers and whispers and glances and kisses are still alive and well, it is so much more that has made what I have learned is true love.

                                               

True love is holding back your hair while you throw up, sick and pregnant.

True love is washing the vomit-covered bedsheets from your toddler while you bathe that sick little one in the middle of the night.

True love is setting the alarm to not sleep through a newborn's feedings and offering to walk the crying baby so you can get back to sleep after that feeding.

True love is washing the dinner dishes so you can have the easier job of bedtime reading on the couch with the kids.

True love is giving you the bigger scoop of ice cream or the cinnamon roll from the middle of the pan.

True love is responding so calmly after a sobbing phone call that you lost it with your kids and are a terrible mom - "You are amazing.  You can do this.  I love you."

True love is coming home early from an out-of-town work trip to be away from you for less time.

True love is mowing lawns in the summer to make extra money to put food on your table and send your kids to piano lessons.

True love is helping carry up piles of clean laundry to the kids' dressers, even when he forgets every single time which drawers belong to which kids.

True love is making you hot tea at night and bringing home an apple pie for dessert.

True love is letting you cry at night when life feels too overwhelming and praying over you as you fall asleep.

True love is saying sorry after a loud and painful fight, hugging you and agreeing to come together once again.

True love is saying day after day after day, "I love you.  I am here."

True love is always doing the driving on road trips.

True love is bringing home your favorite coffee from Starbucks.

True love is offering to get up with the kids morning after morning when you are pregnant and tired.

True love is picking up your medicine at the pharmacy.

True love is putting toothpaste on your toothbrush at night (seriously, he does this).

True love is still calling you beautiful even when you have gained weight and have a road map of stretch marks across your stomach from the privilege of carrying babies.

True love is not caring whether or not your legs are shaved or if you are wearing make up.

True love is picking up tacos when it has been too long of a day to make dinner.

True love is pointing you back to God, reminding you of truth, and encouraging you to keep perspective when life gets hard.

True love is choosing every day to believe in you, to believe in your family, to believe in your marriage, and to never ever give up.

My husband has taught me all of these things about true love, and I am so deeply thankful for God's gift to me in giving me Zachary Douglas Schmidt as my husband and my true other half.

He is strong and authentic, brilliant yet easy to talk to.  He is fierce yet gentle.  He is devoted and faithful.  He is silly and fun and loves with a passion.  He is quite literally my most favorite human being in all the world, and I want to celebrate him well!

                        
Happy Birthday to my one and only true love.

Thank you, my love, for showing me the most beautiful picture of true love.  And may you have your best year yet ahead of you!!!

I love you.

Yours,
Forever,
Sarah