BUT THE GREATEST OF ALL THESE IS LOVE

With Valentine’s Day just a few days past, I'd like to write about my wife. No, this is not an attempt to make up for a lame Valentine’s Day gift or some screwball mistake I made or will make. Because even though all of those have been true and probably will be true again, it's to share how blessed I am to have her.

It was the 4th of July 1987 when we first met, yes the fireworks started right from the beginning. She had the BIG rocking 80's hair, and I loved it. Being a 16 year old boy at that time, the physical attraction was immediate. “Boy” is the correct description, because it took a long time to get close to even become a young man. We did go through some very rocky times early on and at many other times over the years, but she knew we were meant to be together. Her intuition was, and still is, very genuine. It took a very long time for me to mature into the man she knew I was destined to be. I am continuously working on that and very glad she has never given up on me. She has shown me how it feels to be loved unconditionally. Thank you God!

Being an outdoorsman and raised in a family that camped a lot, I thought my wife and I should go camping. My wife was raised in a family that didn’t camp. That statement alone should give you an idea of where this is going. Our first trip was a canoe and camp situation with another couple, not the best idea for her first trip. The other couple were friends of ours and way better campers than us. The plan was to jump in our canoes Friday after work, canoe down the river and find our first camp site, and we did. However, it was infested with mosquitoes because it was basically a swamp! You could hear the mosquito’s dive bombing your head all night; yes we were in a tent, a crummy one to say the least. The next night was in a perfect camp site overlooking the river. That night it started to rain…a lot. The crummy tent leaked...a lot. She started to cry at some point. Not a great moment for this “outdoorsman”. Thankfully, the days were beautiful and we made it through the weekend. After arriving home, I immediately bought a new tent, and remarkably, she still loved me.

Fast forward several years and two sons later when we decided to take a camping trip to Minnesota’s North Shore (a very beautiful place). We were all looking forward to it. The first night it started to rain…a lot, of course, and the “new” tent (now 15 years old) started to leak...a lot. But this time we were better prepared: 1-we weren’t canoeing, meaning we weren't stuck on an island,  2-we had a SUV as an option to sleep in, and 3-our love was even stronger than before. So, somewhere around 3:30am, we deserted the crummy tent and sprawled out our sleeping bags in the SUV. But instead of crying, there was laughter and we had hilarious, goofy conversations until the sun came up, at which time we drove to town and had breakfast. Ahhh civilization.

This pretty much sums up the tents

The outside influences were the same during both situations, but the way we were affected by them was dramatically different because our love had greatly matured. The true love of a mother and wife is a very powerful force, and our family is truly blessed to have hers.

 

1 Corinthians 13:13