19 Reasons I Love My Wife

Michele with our sons, Garret & Taylor

So there I was, sitting in a meeting with my Children’s Ministry leadership team and announcing the very first Kids Krusade at Skyline Church.  I was very excited…until one of my leaders (and a good friend of ours) said,

Wait…we’re doing this on January 24th?  Isn’t that yours and Michele’s first anniversary?

I froze…and then looked over at my wife of less than a year.  But with a great deal of graciousness, she smiled, forgave me and allowed the date to stand.

We learned on that first anniversary that when you are in ministry, you won’t always be celebrating important days on the actual day.  Birthday parties, anniversary celebrations, even Christmas can get “rescheduled” with ministry commitments.

And so it is this year.  Today is out 19th anniversary…and I’m in Arizona with a ministry commitment while she’s handling the home front.  But it doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate my beautiful wife, so I thought I’d share 19 reasons why I love my wife more today than I did 19 years ago (in no particular order):

1. She has stuck with me through thick & thin (and there has been much of both!)
2. She is as beautiful today as the day I told my friend “I’m going to marry that girl someday” (which was before I had even met her)
3. She still needs me to help her back out of our garage
4. She works hard, both in & out of the home, for the benefit of “her boys” (me & our two sons)
5. She is a sucker for our “little girl” (Holly, our dog that the boys wanted but she didn’t)
6. She is an unbelievable Mom
7. She is a people person and still rescues me from conversations at social events
8. She loves God with all her heart
9. She still thinks I can read her mind
10. She still thinks she can read my mind
11. She encourages me to follow my ministry calling at the expense of “getting ahead” materially
12. She still doesn’t answer her phone but somehow makes me smile when she finally does
13. Did I mention that she’s still really pretty?
14. She has forgiven me more times than I can count
15. She shops without me
16. She is kind, compassionate and caring, not only toward me but with others
17. She takes care of our finances because she knows we’d be on the street if I did
18. She takes very good care of herself and the rest of us
19. She let me marry her 19 years ago…and she still lets me love her today!

So…Happy Anniversary, Michele!  I love you and I’ll see you tomorrow when I get home!