First and foremost: Parenting is hard. It is pure trial and error! A wave of compassion washed over me for all parents as I realized what a difficult challenge it truly is. Also, we had three kids five and under and I felt especially for single parents, I could not imagine how hard parenting would be without Dave by my side. Dave and I attended a Behavior Management Class and we left feeling pretty good about ourselves because we were doing what they said to do like be consistent, set clear boundaries, have clear consequences, etc. but as I left, I also felt defeated because even though we were seemingly doing everything right, we were not seeing the results that we wanted in our foster children.
My birthday landed on a Saturday this year and my husband planned absolutely nothing to celebrate it. As I found this unacceptable he asked if he could have a redo. I said yes and the following week we celebrated my birthday by going to Panera to get bagels and Starbucs for coffee.
Several years ago, Dave and I stayed at a cabin in Gatlinburg Tennessee that had a big screen T.V. mounted on the top of a fireplace and we both thought that was such a clever idea and we said that we would do that one day. Well, this weekend was the day and Dave built a mantel for the fireplace from scratch with wood. When he was finished, he put the TV on the mantel and it fit perfectly and looked great. In the picture above, he is actually sawing baseboards, but that is just more proof of how handy Dave is. With the mantel, he had a picture of what he wanted to do in his mind and he made it happen. It just amazes me, Dave amazes me at how much he is capable of. Not only is he intelligent, but he works so well with his hands. Not long after we were married, he made us a queen size bed. Not only was that amazing, but he put drawers in the bottom for storage. I remember how impressed I was with the fact that he was able to put drawers in it. I have absolutely no skill in putting things together. When I was looking at houses to buy in 2005, I was single and knowing myself, I was looking for a house that was move in ready. Which is exactly the house that I bought in November of that year. But add ten years to any house and repairs need to be made, so it is with a heart full of thanksgiving that God gave me a husband who is talented in so many ways and can help to get the house back to tip top shape!