My Honey's Birthday...

Jake turns 26 years old today, and it's his first birthday being married. I'm so excited to be able to celebrate with him today, so much so that I couldn't wait to give him his birthday present-I conceded to my inclinations and gave it to him on Monday. He was thrilled, and hasn't stopped thanking me for the Planet Earth DVD's. He has thanked me almost every hour since! (You think I'm joking...

I'm not.)

Needless to say, I'm pretty proud of myself that I know my husband well enough to give him a gift that even he didn't know he wanted until he opened it. However, that's when the pride kicks in. Although I think he's thanked me enough for the gift, my heart swells up just a little more every time. I get into the mindset that it's all about me, instead of all about him. It's kind of like Christmas, where we can get so focused on the presents instead of focusing on the One whose birth we celebrate.

Jake and I have recently started doing devotions together. For a while, we just kept forgetting, and to be honest, our priorities haven't been all that straight either. This devotional book we've been going through was given to us by my parents, and it discusses different topics over several days. Right now we're going through "happiness". For all the triviality that word can possess, there is something within it that I need to remember. It is sacrifice. For our marriage to be happy, and for me to keep my husband happy, I need to be sacrificial. I need to remember to do things for him that might not be my preference, but that make him happy. I also need to be thankful to God for him, and to remind myself of the reasons we got married in the first place. When I start to become prideful, my focus shifts from Jake, and most importantly the Lord, and moves to myself. I am praying for even more guidance and wisdom for how to become a more loving and gracious wife, and to get rid of all the pride that can even make birthdays less than humble.

Jake, I wish you a wonderful day, and an even more exciting year, filled with friendship-building, challenge-seeking, grace-abounding, love-increasing, food-eating, experience-making, and God-growing.

I love you, and thank God for you (and your love for watching an infinite number of Planet Earth DVD's).

Love,

Ashleigh