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Just when I think I couldn’t love him more….
It’s been over 30 years since I met Dan. We celebrated 28 years on November 24th. He is truly my best friend and my soul mate. I still look at him with wonder in my eyes. He is truly amazing. God has given him so many gifts. Truly wonderful gifts. He has a unique way of looking at things. He is a true problem solver. He brings so much to his jobs and works so hard. Yes, I said jobs. He has his clinical job. He works for a national company as the director of clinical and quality improvement. He writes books. He’s written for magazines. He now volunteers with Love Without Boundaries and New Hope Foundation. He has a true heart for children. I love that about him.
I love many, many things about him. I love that he listens to me ramble on and doesn’t make me feel foolish. When I’m excited about the littlest thing, he gets excited with me. He holds my hand. He looks at me adoringly. He makes me feel beautiful even when I know I’m not exactly looking my best. I love how he makes me feel like I have the most important job in the world. I love how my dream is his dream. I look at him and feel this overwhelming amount of love in my heart and I think this is it….I couldn’t possibly love him more and then he does the sweetest thing and I’m proven wrong.
Just the other day he informed me that our 12 foot Christmas tree is staying up until all our children are home. He wants all of our children to experience Christmas this year. Now the girls should be home sometime in March, but Eli will be a different thing. If we have to go back and get him, it will be another 5-6 months. That puts us into September or so. We will be having a Valentine’s Day tree and an Easter tree and a 4th of July tree. (I’ll be sure and post pictures.) If the tree is up until September, I might as well leave it up until Christmas.
But the biggest reason I love him even more is that I wrote Lauren a letter explaining who we all were and tried to keep it short. I didn’t want to overwhelm her with the very first letter. He decided that he would write a letter instead. He thought it might make a difference since China is such a patriarchal society. He wrote her a very loving letter explaining how much we love her. He told her how we fell in love with her from the very first time we saw her picture. He explained that we wish we could just come get her but we have to follow the rules and told her how sorry he was that we didn’t see her picture sooner. The letter was very, very sweet. He also had the idea for us to pose holding her picture so she could see how happy we are that she will be our daughter.
Every little girl should be lucky enough to truly be loved by her dad. She should know she is treasured, cherished, and not have any doubts about that. She should hear how much he loves her. I think when you trust your father’s love it’s easier to trust God’s love for you too. We apply human characteristics to God and He is our Father. It’s easier to trust your heavenly father when you already understand being cherished unconditionally by your earthly father. I know all of my girls have this with their daddy. What a beautiful gift and I’m lucky enough to be a part of it. As I said, I thought I loved him then….
