A Love Letter

In our marriage counseling our pastor had asked us to write down the things we like about one another. He said we could do that in any way we wanted. To me, that was an open invitation to write Tim a longggg letter. Our pastor kind of made fun of this during our wedding ceremony because it is often that the guy sums up a list of things, while the woman pours out her heart on many pages, and we were no different.

On our anniversary Tim and I watched our wedding video for the very fist time. Our dear friend Dave has put many hours into getting us our memories on video and it was the most perfect gift for our one year anniversary. Hearing our pastor speak about my letter and sharing it with our family and friends during the ceremony made me want to share my longggg love letter here. As I was hearing it back, I was stunned at how right on I was with my words about Tim. Everything I said about Tim is actually very true today. Of course I have gotten to know Tim better over this past year, but the guy I got to know 21 months ago is a reality!

To my dearest Tim,

I am very honest and I don't take these words lightly when I tell you that I have never met a man as Good as you. And I know having a dad like I had can make that not a big deal.  But besides my dad there were men in my life like neighbors, teachers, friends and pastors and no one was merely as good as you.  And I am honest when I say again that packing up my life in Holland to come here, to come to you, was very easy.  That is a compliment to you.  I know I have God to praise for this, and I have God to praise for you. He has designed for you to be a Good man and you could have chosen to walk a different path many times.  Your childhood in boarding school could have changed you, going through a divorce could have changed you.  But no such thing happened, you choose Good.  

When we met in church and had that first date way into the night, that is not when I got to know your character all that much.  It's through our skype conversations that your character shone through strongly. It's something stable and something I trust. I love your character, and I admire that you are a Good man.

I love that you are honest.

I love that you are such a happy person.

I love that you are humble.

I love that you will sit down with God on a daily basis.

I love that you are always willing to look at yourself first.

I love you are able to say you are sorry.

I love that you always see things from the bright side of life.

I love that you believe the best in a person.

I love that you are a giver and are always willing to help out.

I love that you are open to being confronted.

I love that you ask for help.

I love that you treat people with respect.

I love that you take your roll as son, brother, friend, neighbor, church go-er, my fiancé very seriously and you are a good son, good brother, good friend, good neighbor, good church go-er and an excellent fiancé.

Babe, you are really an excellent person. You are righteous.  You are remarkable.

All this really shows you are an amazing man, a Good man with a capital G because you really do reflect Jesus in your life.

There is much I love about you but for sure your character is your strongest asset. But how can I deny mentioning your hotness? Your appearance is stunning, your eyes are amazing, your facial features are so handsome.  I love your length, I love your muscles and let me mention I love your facial hair, I love your hair in general for that matter, ooooh that chest hair is sexy.

And than you have your ways that I love.  I often just sit there and look at you and take you in because when I am with you there is so much about you I just want to take in.  There are little ways, little things to you that are big to me like making sure you walk on the outer side of the road when we go out for a walk.  We have learned we are not to do that when we bike together because only then is my life not secure ;)   I love that you can get so cheery just because I am around you, and I love even more you let me know that fact.  I love the way you laugh.  I love your enthusiasm in life, over sports for instance, man do you get loud!  I love that you will ALWAYS grab my hand when we walk next to each other, whether that is from the car to the supermarket or during a long anticipated walk.

There are loves:

Can I mention here that you are an awesome athlete.

And I love your low singing voice.

I love you are strong.

I love your hugs and the way you kiss me.

I love how you make new people feel comfortable.

I love that the Gabonese are so important to you.

I love that you desire love over things.

I love you long to excel at work, to not just do your job but be good at it.

I love that you consider me in your decisions.

And than I get into some thank you's:

Thank you for playing my childish games with me, even though they were weird at first maybe, but you still haven't stopped racing me when we get out of the car and I yell: "Who gets there first?"  Thank you for partnering with me in those things that make me ME.  

Thank you that you ask me about my heart on a regular basis, what an honor it is to have you ask "How is your heart today honey?" in such a beautiful and compassionate way.

Thank you for trying to understand my ways of feeling loved.  I acknowledge that you go out of your set and comfortable ways to love me.

Thank you for your willingness to stand up as a man and leader, even if it means going against me. You are a tremendous leader.

Thank you for getting things done for me because you know they are important to me.  I acknowledge your wonderful and faithful efforts like with getting a home on time, getting a few pieces of furniture and getting me internet.

Thank you for taking me in account like when you made sure I had a phone while in the States the first time so I could be in touch not only with you, but also with my friends. Not to forget mentioning signing me up for the gym.  That really blessed my heart.  

Thank you for risking to fail (in your opinion) at loving me in practical ways like getting me Burlap and Bean coffee.

Thank you for keeping healthy by exercising on a daily basis.

Thank you for being my friend, I love hanging out with you whatever we do.

Thank you for laughing with me.

Thank you for laughing at me.

Thank you for reigning me in when I need to be reigned in.

Thank you for trying hard to love me well.

Babe, you deserve a Good woman.  You deserve to be acknowledged and honored.  It will be my important job in this world to be good to you, to honor you as a man and give you all the space you need to move, and to move well.  

You are easy to love.

I love you... tons!

Yours with lots of kisses, hugs and smooches,

MaddyChristine Hope