I’ve never read a Harlequin novel or any book with Fabio on the cover.
I’ve never seen The Notebook. Ladies, I’ll wait until you calm down.
I threw up in my mouth a little when Jerry Maguire said, “You complete me.”
And I absolutely tossed my cookies when she replied, “You had me at, ‘hello.'”
Am I unromantic? I don’t think so. Maybe I just have a different idea of what romance is all about. I love to get flowers as much as the next girl, but when you have a joint checking account and see what they cost, it puts a damper on a it a little. They die. Soon.
I love chocolate, but I also spend about 6 to 8 hours a week at the gym and have based a ministry on wellness, so even chocolate has lost a bit of its luster. And jewelry? Well, it’s pretty, but I’m just so darn practical. I don’t own jewelry of any substantial monetary value — my favorite pieces are sentimentally priceless though.
But I find my husband to be one of the most romantic people on the face of the earth. There are so many little things he does for me that demonstrate that I’m on his mind, like picking up some Crystal Lite lemonade — my daily addiction — from the store when he notices we’re getting low. During the winter months, he always turns on the mattress warmer on my side of the bed about an hour before we turn in because he knows I’m always cold and can’t fall asleep between cold sheets. (Now if that doesn’t put heat in a relationship, what will?)
This morning, I was getting ready for work and in the back of my head, I thought, “I’m going to have to stop and put gas in my car, either on the way to the office or on the way home.”
As usual, I was running a little behind after hitting “snooze” one more time, so stopping on the way wasn’t looking very promising. Oh, the thought of stopping on the way home was horrifying. Traffic, even on my short commute, is congested and trying to get in and out of a gas station when I really just want to get home is not fun. But, cars will not run without gasoline (a theory tested and proven by yours truly in college — twice) so too bad.
I finished getting ready, kissed David goodbye, and ran to the car. As I pulled out and headed to work, I noticed the gas tank indicator, FULL. Guess who had taken my car earlier this morning when he took our daughter to school? And guess who noticed my nearly empty tank? And guess who stopped and filled it up? My sweetie, David.
And a wave of romantic giddiness swept over me, as if I had received a dozen roses in front of everyone in the office.
Love is Kind
David is kind. And he is thoughtful and considerate and romantic in the most meaningful ways.
Young ladies, if you are dating, you might be hung up on grand romantic gestures and highly-produced marriage proposal videos that go viral on Youtube. But I encourage you to pay attention to the little things he does for you because it is in those things that he demonstrates his true nature, his character, and his love for you.
And to those of you who have maybe been married a while, you might get frustrated as you see the posts on your friends’ Facebook pages about romantic cruises and gifts of fancy jewelry, but I encourage you to count your blessings.
Love Keeps No Record of Wrong
I’m guilty of “storing up” perceived wrongs and harboring anger for things are really of little consequence, but I’m working on it. Try to let the minor annoyances go — put them out of your mind. Keep no record or wrongs, BUT, I encourage you to absolutely keep a record of the rights.
Seriously, make a list of all the little things your beloved has done for you or does regularly. Make a list of things that you appreciate about him. Sometimes, when I start to nag him about something that has annoyed me (usually something minor and petty), I stop and mentally review this list. Most of the time, I very quickly come up with about 30 things. That’s enough for me to realize, “This little thing? It probably isn’t worth mentioning. I’ll shut up now.”
Here’s a short list I could make about David, but believe me, I could write volumes.
- David always speaks gently and kindly, even when I’m being difficult. (He could not say the same thing about me as I struggle with my temper and speak more harshly than I should.)
- David does little things for me, like filling my gas tank, turning the channel to Jeopardy at 7:30 p.m. and buying Crystal Lite.
- David loves my extended family and they love him.
- David is a wonderful father to our daughter (and takes her to school every morning because he knows that parking lot drives me crazy.)
- When they forget and put a pickle on my plate at the deli (I HATE PICKLES), David grabs it before the juice has time to contaminate the rest of my food.
- If I so desired, I would probably never have to touch an ice scraper or snow shovel again, so long as David has anything to say about it.
- David doesn’t put my bras in the dryer, but carefully shapes them and hangs them to dry. (That alone qualifies him for sainthood.)
- David always puts the seat down (and that never even bothered me!)
I could go on and on, and that’s not even getting into some of the “special” things he does. But by noticing all the little ways he shows love to me, I also love him more.
That is the kind of romance that lasts longer than flowers and is more valuable than diamonds.