The Man I Love The Best!!

It's a good thing my mom is up on this blogging thing, because apparently Shannon Eder tagged me to do a tribute to my husband a month ago and it completely went over my head until my mom pointed it out to me... thanks mom! This is perfect timing too, in light of Thanksgiving! I think I'm supposed to highlight the 5 things I love the best about my husband, but I just went through my pictures and just seeing him in so many different contexts overwhelmed my heart with love for him! I'm just going to write a little bit about each picture!

First: He is a hunk... need I say more??

He is an awesome uncle to his niece Kayla and nephew Conor. When she was younger, he'd play hide and seek for ages with her, and then they moved on to more important games, like Connect Four. He is so sweet with his sister's kids!
Ever year he cuts down our Christmas tree. Usually in the dark and bitter cold...

He willingly participates in our annual cookie decorating night with the Finns. He's so cute in the kitchen!

I just think we look cute in this picture =)

When I was so fat and pregnant that I couldn't even bend over to paint my own toes, he painted them for me! What a guy!

Since we were running out of room in our house for all the blessings God has bestowed on us, he built me a shed before Mackenzie was born. It is now packed ceiling to floor with her stuff, I don't know what we'd do without it! He is so smart! He went to Loews and took pictures of the shed he wanted to make, came home and drew diagrams, bought the lumber, cut it to size, and nailed it all together! He even put on a shingled roof and painted it to match our house!

Here's our last picture as "just us!"

I remember his words when she was born, "Oh wow, oh wow, oh wow!" It was such an overwhelming feeling to have this little person placed in our arms, he is such a good dad!

He did diapers from Day One!!

He loves sharing the gospel with Mackenzie. Obviously they don't go through the "How Good Are You?" track every night, but every night he prays for her salvation and when he disciplines her he is so good at reminding her that this is why she needs a Savior! She's going to know from a young age that she desperately needs the Lord to save her from her sin, and most of that is because he is so good at speaking the gospel in our home!

He takes such good care of her... here they are all bundled up before the Dicken's Festival last year in Medford.
Here they are on Jake's first Father's Day at church!

This is just a cute picture of him. We had some friends over spur the moment on July 4th and he made this game called "Washers" to play in our backyard!

They love spending time together on the hammock!

Mackenzie and I took Daddy on a picnic dinner this summer... it was a nice, simple treat!

He is so sensitive with her. She really didn't like the pool at first, but through his gentle encouragement, she fell in love with it and wouldn't get out of it for the rest of the summer!

Here's one of their new favorite games... they love to "zoom" on the hammock!

Here she is "helping" daddy fix our house back up after he fixed the front windows for us!

So I know there are like no pictures of just the two of us from her birth on, but that's not because we don't spend any time together anymore... it's just that we have something much cuter to photograph now! Jake has kept me as his #1 priority through out Mackenzie's 14 months... he even took me on a date when she was just 8 days old! He continues to pursue me as his #1 girl and he always greets me with a kiss as soon as he walks in the door... although this little tradition is getting harder since Mackenzie tries to pry us apart by our knees. I remember HATING when my mom and dad kissed (it's still pretty gross, actually!), and we're cracking up that we already have a little one who hates to see affection that she's not a part of! Family hugs happen often around here, as well as family walks, and family dinners. I am so grateful that our little girl is growing up in a house where her mommy and daddy are happy to see one another... much like the homes we both grew up in too!

So apart from how much Jake loves me... hee, hee... it's always about me first, right? I want to appreciate how HARD he works to provide for us! A good example of that is this Friday, instead of keeping his day off, he's going to do side work for a client whose house he was installing granite in this week. It's a fine line between working TOO much and working HARD, and I think Jake is a perfect example that there can be a balance! I think the biggest thing is that I know he would rather be home than anywhere else, and that speaks to my heart and comforts me so much when I miss him. I know he'd rather be no where but here with "his girls", but He is diligent to the call God has given him as our provider!

So I love him because he loves me, I love him because he works hard, and I love him because he serves so much when he is home. There is very little "Jake time" in the week, usually it is Jake and Julie time or Daddy and Mackenzie time, and he's fine with that. He is quick to help me with Mackenzie whenever I ask and totally capable of taking care of her by himself. I still love that he'll call me when I'm out and say, "Ok, now what should I feed her?" It makes me feel useful, but I know he could handle it on his own! Besides just serving with Mackenzie, he is quick to fix things that need fixing, whether I bring it to his attention or not. Recently we did a huge house project (that I'll write about later) and it was all at his initiative. He also just fixed our leaking kitchen sink and cloudy front windows and broken heater! If acts of service are his love language, than I am a very loved woman!

This tribute wouldn't be complete without highlighting how he serves in the church. He serves on the book table and sound team, leads a growth group, and leads worship for caregroup. Recently we starting teaching Sunday School again and he has taken over teaching the lesson (usually that was my job) and doing the application questions with the kids. The kids love him and listen to him very well! Apart from the church stuff, he frequently gets calls from friends about how to fix things in their homes, and Jake will either walk them through it on the phone, or go over and help them himself.

And lastly, this wouldn't be complete unless I honored him for the way he honors the Lord with his energy, time, and money. His energy: he gets up early so he can do his devotions before going to work. He'll pray with me whenever I ask, even late and night when he's exhausted. His time: I think from the preceding 4 paragraphs it's easy to see that this is not a man who lives for himself, but willingly lays down his life to serve others. His money: I know that no matter how tight we get, he will always make a priority of tithing. On top of that, he is diligent to give to the mission fund at church. Even when I questioned whether we should or not, he reminded me that God clearly spoke the same amount to both of us and we can trust Him to provide even if we can't see how it will happen. He's not only wise with tithing and giving, but he's wise with our money too. I know I can trust him to pay every bill on time, he always has since we've been married. He doesn't go out and buy expensive things without asking for my input first. He regularly tries to save us money by having me pack him the same thing for lunch every day. He's quick to be generous with me and others, but slow to be generous towards himself.

I love this man so much and I am SO THANKFUL to be married to him for 3 1/2 years and to be expecting his second baby!!

And now I think I'm supposed to tag a few other ladies to honor thier husbands, so I tag: Shana, MB, Kathi, Julia, and Kzarin - GO!