Contentment

Contentment is a big deal. I'm finding it in the little things - packing leftovers for Husband's lunch, baking treats for my family, working together with Husband to fix the washing machine. My heart is full.

I love living with my husband; most of the year he's only home on weekends. But for almost 2 months now, he's been working locally and is home every night. Family meals around the table (which we do even when he's gone), listening and watching him interact with the kids, simply having him walk in the door after work and hand me his coffee mug from the morning. I love hearing him tell the kids something I was thinking when we hadn't even discussed it, knowing we're on the same wavelength. There are so many little things that take place in day to day interaction that you don't realize until they reappear after being absent.

Before we married, our relationship was mostly a long-distance one. We'd met at a mission in New York City; our homes were six hours apart. After doing the long-distance thing for a year and a half, some family members expressed concern over how a day-to-day relationship would work for us, a legitimate concern since we were talking marriage. After much prayer, I moved to his home town in the summer of 2000. He arranged an apartment for me and he lived with his parents. Our plan was to keep this arrangement until the following spring when we would get married. The thought was that this would give us an opportunity to see each other on a daily basis, to see how we each were accustomed to living and had the bonus affect of creating a wonderful place for me within his family.

Was the beginning of our relationship meant to prepare us for the past three years of being separated? Does the fact that we had no choice but to trust each other completely from the very beginning help explain why there is no doubt or mistrust now? Aside from my relationship with Christ, the relationship I have with my husband is the most important relationship in my life. I miss him terribly when he's gone. But I think that absence allows me to appreciate his presence so much more than I would if he were home year round. I'm loving that I get to cook meals for him, bake his favorite cookies, make sure that I have an extra tube of his toothpaste on hand. Just washing and drying his pants for work today has filled my heart with contentment; I don't usually get to do that.

I am so blessed to have a husband who loves me and is so devoted to me. I am blessed that I married a man who loves his family and will do whatever he needs to do in order to make sure we are provided for. I am blessed with the opportunity to serve my husband, who loves me despite my shortcomings.

My heart is full.