Pausing to Say I Love You

Last month, when I went to the speaking/writing conference in Michigan, I went to a workshop led by a lovely lady named Shannon Popkin. We emailed back and forth a bit after the conference, and yesterday she left me a note on Facebook saying, "So I hear your love story is pretty awesome..."

I didn't need a second invitation to send her here to read about how our love story began. A while later, she wrote back to say she had cried while she read our story, and she didn't get her work done all afternoon. (Whoopsie.)

She said she particularly loved this post, which I wrote almost five years ago, saying what I loved about Ryan. I went back to read it too, and I cried all over again, remembering what a gift it was to experience his love in those early days.

As we make our way through these five-years-later milestones, I want to pause to say out loud that all those things I wrote five years ago are still very true. And I've had the chance to know them in even truer, fuller ways in these last five years together.

* Ryan still has a heart for the Lord, and he still has as deep a desire to serve in church as he does to sit at home and study and pray. I appreciate the way he loves and serves God!

* He's still the spiritual leader in our marriage, and I love it. He prays over me, studies Scripture with me, worships with me at church, and I definitely feel that he loves me as Christ loves the church. I respect and admire his leadership!

* I don't think I need to really say that he is definitely STILL FUNNY. Makes me laugh every day! And isn't life so much better with laughter in it?

* If only I could have known, five years ago, how much he would push me out of my comfort zone, over and over again, I probably would have been a lot more freaked out! LOL! Just kidding! So many times in these last five years, he's helped me do more than I thought I could, but as always, this picture says it best.

* Obviously we still drink coffee together and take a billion pictures of everything we ever do. He loves what makes me tick, even if he doesn't always understand it! But coffee...coffee, we understand. And this has been a big part of our relationship!

* He still surprises me with little gifts and ice cream and flowers and other treasures to let me know how much he loves me. And my gift loving heart adores these gestures!

* He's still a planner, and my goodness: his planning has paid off time and time again for us. From getting great deals on purchases to enjoying surprise dates to even making big life changes like being able to work from home, the planning is always a gift!

* Five years later, and he's still affectionate. YAY! Still loves to hold my hand, kiss me, and cuddle with me. The affection-lover in me loves that!

* He's still vocal about his love, and I love that. I love it when he tells someone else something he loves about me, or when I just see that look in his eye. Goose bumps!

* He still sees me. He sees worth, potential, and value. He sees beauty, even when I can't. Possibly one of the things I appreciate most about all he offers to me!

* And of course...he's even more handsome today than he was five years ago! And he was amazing five years ago!

Ryan Shaffer, I love you! I loved you five years ago, and I love you even more today. I've heard it said that whatever you do to capture the attention of the person you love is what you need to keep doing once you have that attention. And you have consistently done just that. Every day you are exactly who I fell in love with! Thank you for being my constant!

And thank you for being proof to others that it's possible to be all these things, every day. I love the way you lead by example!

Linking up with Tamar!