It's the little things

I used to think I was a sappy, romantic kind of girl. You know--the one who wants flowers for every special occasion and a date night every week and a husband who professes his love with words every time he sees me. And then, Brian got me a ceiling fan for an anniversary present (I think it was even our 1st anniversary). And I LOVED it. It was the fan that I really wanted but refused to spend the money to get. He's done lots of things like that over the years.

I get caught up many days thinking about all the big things I wish he would do and overlooking the little things he does. In the past week, he has defrosted my car windows, made a yummy stew, toasted my bagel when I was in a hurry to get the kids to school(without me having to ask--which gets double points), loaded firewood so we could enjoy our fireplace and worked his tail off to provide for our family. These are all things I can take for granted and expect him to do. But I don't want to be that kind of wife. I want to notice them and celebrate them and never assume I am entitled to them.

Because it really is the little things that tell me how well he knows me and speak huge volumes of his love. And he knew this about me before I ever did. He knows this about our daughters, too. That's why he's taking one to the Daddy/Daughter Dance and the other duck hunting (bet you can't guess which is doing what).

I can't help but think that God works in this same way. He doesn't always do the big things that we expect Him to do. He doesn't always do the things we think would speak love to us. But He does know best and I find that looking back, I realize that I love the gifts He gives much better than the things I thought I wanted. And I want to be the kind of daughter who sees that and appreciates it.