December 14 – Appreciate. What’s the one thing you have come to appreciate most in the past year? How do you express gratitude for it? (Author: Victoria Klein)
The thing that I've come to appreciate the most is not a thing - it's a person - my Main Squeeze. There are a hundred reasons I appreciate and love the mess outta him. He knows when I need help, and when I need to be left alone to do it myself. He has a great way of identifying when I need a few hours at Starbucks. He works his tail off. He always takes care of things around our house to make it look and feel nice. He is passionate about what he does. He's a big kid at heart. He loves God, his family and his church. He is fearless. He loves me unconditionally. He always wants to bring the best out in people.
Have I mentioned that he's incredibly handsome too???
But those things aren't what I appreciate the most about him....
The thing that I've come to appreciate the most about him this year is that he loves lavishly. If he's going to show love, it's gonna be big. He's a great gift giver. He'll listen to you and pick out something for you that you'll love. Last year for my birthday, he took me out to buy a new dress (we ended up buying 3), then to a fancy dinner, then to a broadway show at a local theater, then a night at a hotel. I didn't ask for that, but I loved every second of it.
It's not just about lavish gifts. He can tell when someone needs more of his time. Like tonight, he let #1 stay up late, and they put a lego set together. Sometimes, he'll just sit down at his mom's desk at church, just to talk to her. For Christmas, he took his mama to the Rockette's Christmas show. He remembered that when his mom was little she wanted to be a Rockette. She loved the show, but what she loved even more was getting to spend time with her son.
I realized just a few weeks ago, I want to be more like him in this area. It's not that I don't know when people need my attention and affection, I know. It's not that I can't come up with great gift ideas, because I can. I just tend to love stingily. I spend time when it's convenient for me. I try to spend as little money as possible on a gift. I do the smallest that I can, and then I convince myself it's good enough - better than nothing. It's stupid.
I feel it especially in December. We have 2 birthdays in December - my Main Squeeze's and #1's. They are quite close to Christmas day. I always find myself trying just to give one of the things I got for my Main Squeeze for Christmas for his birthday, and sometimes cringing when I do. Well, I didn't do it this year. I gave to him for his birthday the way he gives to me year round. It was big. I did the same thing for him for his Christmas stocking. Instead of getting little cheap things just to fill his stocking because I felt like I had to fill his stocking, I put something in it that I knew he'd love. I also tried to spend time helping him take care of things in "his world." He normally takes care of everything outside our house. This week, our Christmas lights were falling off our house because we had a wind storm. I knew he wasn't really ready to take them down, but they did look ridiculous. Normally, I'd just leave them and let him take care of them when he felt like it, but since I knew it was bothering him, I just started taking them down while he was working on some things in the garage. He joined in, and the whole job was done in a little more than an hour (did I mention our house won the neighborhood decorating contest?)
Those 3 things were inspired by him - 3 choices to show lavish love. It didn't really take much, but I knew they meant a lot. It made me feel good. I need to do it more.....thanks sweetie.
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