excuse me while i gush.

do you ever have a moment when you just want to shout something from the rooftops so that all the world could hear you?  you want to make sure that every single person and their mother hears what you have to say?  well, i am having one of those moments right now.  and while i would love for the whole world to know, i'm afraid of heights and my rooftop is pretty icy right now, so i will settle for my virtual rooftop right here.  (plus, people would probably think i was crazy if i was shouting things from my roof and yell inappropriate things back at me, better yet, in my neighborhood they would just turn off their hearing aids, and i would be yelling to deaf ears and just get really cold.)

so i shall take my place on my virtual rooftop here, coming out of my unintentional blogging hiatus, to tell you, rather shout to you,

"I LOVE MY HUSBAND!!"

people, i am so darn proud of this man!  today at church they had a surprise planned for him and for the last few days, it has been driving him crazy not knowing what was going on.  i also did not know, though probably for good reason because if i knew, he would inevitably find out.  we kind of have this thing, "if you don't want our spouse to know, don't tell us."  while secretly he was planning his acceptance speech for when they offered him full time employment in a huge celebration in front of the church, i suggested that perhaps he should not set his expectations too high, you know, just in case.  so we joked about all the things it could be, "here's a set of keys to your new children's ministry trailer..." (as we are a mobile church), "surprise, you're preaching today...", and from a dream he had about it "we have cooked up a feast for you to eat in front of the whole church, dig in...."  whatever it was they had planned, we were just excited to find out!  

then last night as i sat on the exam table at express care and heard, "contagious for the next 24 hours after beginning meds" i immediately sent a text to mike saying no church tomorrow with an obligatory super sad emoji face.  but we decided if i snuck in the back just for the presentation, i wouldn't be harming anyone.  no matter what it was, even if they just smacked him on the back and said, "good job", i was going to be there.  i may not always be the best wife in the whole world, but i do not miss an opportunity to gush over my husband.

and gush i did! as i stood in the back and they brought him to the stage, my heart swelled with pride.  that's my man, my baby's daddy! oh how i wanted to scream so loud so he could hear me, but the pain in my throat just wouldn't allow it.  i wanted him to know i was there, and i would always be his loudest, proudest and most adoring fan!  they honored him today with a certificate of ministry excellence and explained how proud they are to call him our church's children's ministry director, to express gratitude for the work he does each and every sunday to make our children's ministry a place they feel honored to send their children each week.  

as i stood there listening to the words spoken about my husband, i thought, you know, he truly is a great man.  i thought about a bumper sticker we saw yesterday that said, "my son is a fire rescue emt. he saves lives. what does your son do?"  mike's mom then asked him what her bumper sticker would say.  he said, "i write newspaper articles".  but i was thinking, no, your son saves too. (or at least plays a part because only Jesus saves)  before i could correct him, he realized the error in his statement and said he does in fact help save lives too. he is a children's ministry director.  his mom replied, "but that guy is an emt"  to which i responded, "there won't be fire rescue in hell."  now, i was kidding....mostly....i'm really not a fire and brimstone kind of girl.  but if we're talking eternity, i'd just love to know that the kids we work with each sunday will be dancing with Jesus someday, whenever that day comes, and to me, that's just way more important.  

but here's a man whose heart's desire right now is to be a full time children's ministry director.  if you are not familiar, people in ministry do not make a lot of money, nor are they compensated for the amount of time they pour into their job on a daily basis.  full time ministry is really full time.  it's messy and exhausting and just plain hard.  but it is also the most rewarding and encouraging gift one will ever know.  and my husband wants nothing more than to dive right in, and i love him for it.  

it's kind of a running joke around our church that whenever he talks in front of people, whether it be the congregation or just a small group of new people checking out the church, he cries when he explains his role at the church or talks about children's ministry.  it's his thing because he is so incredibly passionate about what he does.  i have never seen him more passionate about anything besides eli and i.  he loves Jesus and he loves kids and his passion is too instill a love for Jesus in those kids.  and when you see him with those kids, loving on them and interacting with them, you just know.  you just know that this is exactly what he was made to do.  

and on that day, when he gets "the call" the big one, you better believe there's gonna be a party up in here!  (he has mentioned running up and down the streets naked, screaming, but don't worry folks, i won't let him get too carried away.  probably wouldn't look too good for the cm director of a local church to be found naked on the streets!)  there will be lots of tears though. lots.  

so i'm thinking of creating a new bumper sticker.......

i'm kidding....mostly. no, totally kidding.  i'm not into bumper stickers.  and you're husband, if you have one, is probably super cool, and you should most definitely be proud of him.  you can have my spot on the roof if you'd like.