Tuesday, November 29, 2011

my favorite place to be


 caroline presented dan & i with a very special letter on thanksgiving day.
she read it out loud to us with a tender heart as dan and i smiled back and forth to each other over & over.
her letter listed several reasons why she was thankful we were her parents,
yet i think she was maybe unaware of the power behind one of the passages.
she wrote how thankful she was that she knew we'd never leave each other or divorce.
how loved that made her feel & the safety that gave her.

today is dan's birthday.
& caroline nailed it.
she nailed the two strongest character traits of her daddy.
his selfless love for us and his loyalty.

i have never known a more selfless person.

dan lays down his life for our family every day.
he lays down his desires, choices or preferences
and continually, joyfully, allows the other person,
who ever it may be,
to figuratively have the right of way.
whether it's his daughters
someone in traffic
people that i don't even like
anyone.
constantly giving to the other person.
 

his loyalty to me
& to our children
has created a safe haven
whether it's within his strong yet gentle hugs
or within the structure of our home.
a loyalty that fills my heart
& i know he'll never leave or long to be elsewhere.

the last couple of months we have been a continual financial issues.
we needed to do some major landscaping after the power company cut down all our trees.
very expensive.
all four cars have needed work & yesterday he paid all the emissions on each of them.
we've had extra medical bills & vet bills
the water heater was replaced yesterday
and the heater and garage door went out on the same day.
the window in my car is stuck
sorority dues, dance recital fees and cheerleading payments.
& i resigned from my "real job"
& just life.
it's been a tight month.
yet he never complains or lashes out on us.

he is my constant encourager
he makes me feel like i'm miss america whether i'm in what i affectionately refer to as
my fatty stage or i'm training for a half marathon.
he calls me "beautiful"
and never makes fun of my cooking.
he acts like he truly enjoys living in a house full of white
 never leaves dirty clothes on the floor.
& the toilet seat has only been left up a handful of times in our marriage.
he knows eating out is my love language
& gives nightly back rubs.
he is perpetually kind.
to give you an example,
i had ran by the home of owner of the dog that attacked brinkley the other day.
she had agreed to pay the vet bill.
dan had to make a few visits there before they ever connected.
one time i asked him to swing by there but he didn't want to interupt their thanksgiving weekend.
last night he wanted to wait until "after dinner hours" to 'bother' them.
always thinking of the other person.
that same gentle kind spirit is how he always answers me and the girls 
anytime we "ask" him for money or tell him about a need.
always a kind response.

after we were married he adopted savannah, madison & emily.
he treats them & caroline equally
& loves on them like Jesus.
he truly shows them what the love of our Heavenly Father
is like.

happy birthday sweet man
right beside you is my favorite place to be.
allofmylove2you
forever


33 comments:

slip4 said...

Happy birthday to your husband! He is truly an example for us all.

Kat said...

Okay, now I am totally crying. What a beautiful post! Happy birthday to your sweet and wonderful hubby! What a great example he is showing the girls of the best traits in a husband and a father!

Love Being A Nonny said...

Precious tribute to your man. I have to look twice to see if it's YOU or one of your daughters when you post a picture!

Unknown said...

And I'm crying too!!

This was beautiful Paige....Dan is clearly a really wonderful and special man, you two are so lucky to have found each other.

I did giggle at the line about him not minding about living in a house of white!!! Gotta love him!

Happy Birthday Dan!! XXy

Kerri said...

Happy Birthday to your sweet Dan! This post has left me speechless~it is such a beautiful tribute to your husband!

XO
Kerri

Bethanie said...

How beautiful Paige. You have been blessed, twice. He is as blessed as you are to have found each other though, you are an amazing wife and mom. My mom told me a story the other day about my dad that had me in tears...they are having to leave their home of 30 years due to a problem that has contaminated their fresh spring water (huge long story) anyway, it breaks their hearts to leave the home they have raised their children in...but they have to go. Last year they buried their dog on the property, he was a cantankerous, funny dachsund named Nicholas. The other day my dad asked my mom if she wanted him to dig up his grave and move it to their new home. She said no, that he had to bury him once, that was enough...she said awhile later he came back in the house and said he'd be back in a little while...he had gone ahead and dug up the grave and was taking it along with the stone they had made, and was going to re bury him. Lots of people would say, "oh how crazy"...but the circumstances of their move is painful and legally they wont even be able to talk about it anymore, and surely there will be no reason to go back...so to leave him (Nick) there, just seemed wrong. Making me cry again this morning. But I too, have been blessed with an amazing dad and husband.

Enjoy your day celebrating! Love

Tammy @BeatriceBanks said...

Such a touching post. Happy Birthday to your special man. You must be pretty special yourself. You sure know how to put it in words. I'm blessed with a wonderful husband too. Maybe I should refer to this post when his birthday comes in a couple of weeks! lol
Wishing you many happy days ahead for your wonderful family.

Sibi said...

Tears.....

Look at the recompense.....

It is beyond measure.

You can "see" the love and security that Caroline feels in those gorgeous pictures you post of her. She shines like the morning sun!!

I heart Dan by the way! What an incredible man....
Happy Birthday to him!!!!

He needs to start a discipleship program for young men in Atlanta! Lord knows they need such a Godly example to teach and train them.

Love to you and your entire beautiful family!

P.S. Bethanie's comment just about sent me over the edge. Love demonstrated......

KTG said...

What a man. He reminds me of my Dan!

Amy R. said...

Sounds like you are blessed with a great guy! I need to strive to be as selfless as you described him to be. Happy Birthday Dan!

giosmama26@yahoo.com said...

What a lovely lovely tribute to your husband. That was very beautiful to read and I can only hope to marry a man of such magnitude in the very near future.

Happy Birthday to your hubby, Dan.

Alecia said...

Happy Birthday Dan!!! What a precious post. Praying for my "Dan" to one day come into my life...it's sweet men like him that love Jesus and treat their wives & families so well that I never want to settle...it will all be worth the wait! :-)

Coastal Health and Home said...

Dear Paige,

How lovely.

Happy Birthday to Dan!

Enjoy this beautiful day.

Unknown said...

Happy Birthday Dan! What a beautiful tribute to him you've written Paige!
xo~Jill

Shannon said...

Happy Birthday to Dan!! He sounds like a wonderful father and husband which is something to be very, very thankful for :)

Talia said...

What a beautiful and loving tribute to your husband.

Happy Birthday, Dan!

3 Peanuts said...

Happy Birthday to a wonderful man. You are blessed.

He sounds a lot like my Dave too:)_

Cyn said...

What a wonderful post. Happy Birthday to your husband. Hope you guys have a great day!

Jill said...

Loved every single word of this sweet tribute to Dan. Didn't get choked up until the adopting part! You are blessed.

Micah Jamie said...

Happy birthday to Dan the Man! You are both precious & I'm so glad you found each other. ps. "eating out is my love language." Praise Jesus, amen, and amen!

Jen Kershner said...

Happy Birthday to your sweet man! I have to tell you that today, after uploading a precious picture of my man, I wrote a post about him to publish later. You can't even believe how similar our posts are. I think we are both incredibly lucky and I can tell that we both know it.

katie purcell said...

Blessed
You to have him
and Dan to have ya'll.
xxoo

Debby said...

Happy Birthday to your sweet husband. He truly looks like he is very happy to be your husband and father to all of the girls. He is a keeper.
Okay Bethany's post did me in.
Never thought of that when we buried our Matty two years ago.
Never again will we do that.
So glad that they will pay the vet bills.
It has been a rough month for us with more ahead, I am afraid. Our little doggie is still sick and it worries me.
Oh, Caroline is a keeper as well.

Carol S. said...

Awwwwww...he's a keeper! Happy birthday, you forgot to mention his good looks. :)

liz mccutcheon said...

Paige,

That is such a sweet and very accurate portrayal of Dan. He is a wonderful man and I am very proud to know him (as well as you and Madison). Hope you all enjoyed his birthday.

Love,

Liz

kasey said...

Happy birthday Dan the Man!!

JerriR said...

Oh that "Dan the Man"!!! Happy Birthday to him and so happy for you sweet Paige! PS I have my own, whom I don't deserve, his name is just not Dan.

Bravehearted Beauty {formerly LLH Designs} said...

My heart has melted. I love to hear a woman praise her man for his character. Beautiful.

love and hugs,
Linsey

Jodi said...

Happy Birthday, Dan! What a lovely post, and you two are a beautiful couple!
PS...I think he did make fun of your cooking...remember the meatloaf? LOL just kidding! ;)

Take care!
Jodi

Unknown said...

What a great gift you have been given. Not just one great man in your life, but two–––one who gave you three beautiful daughters and one to help you raise them.
I'm sure he feels though that HE is the lucky one. Hope he had a wonderful birthday!

Anonymous said...

I just love this! So sweet....so tender. I follow your blog constantly....and I am a huge fan. I just know if I ever ran into you...we could sit and have coffee!
Thanks for all of your inspiring pictures and words!
Many blessings to you and your family!
I have been praying for sweet little Brinkley too as I have two precious goldens of my own.... the BEST in the world!
Kit

courtney said...

this makes me very very happy- nothing better than a great match of a couple. and a beautiful woman lifting up her man so beautifully.

christina said...

i had to come back and wish dan a happy birthday. i read at work the other day, but couldn't comment. i know this type of love, and i could feel in each one of your words, how blessed you are, to be in one anothers lives.
blessings to you both.
xoxo