How I blessed my husband this Christmas

I was inspired by this post this Christmas season and, therefore, have been doing the "Twelve Days of Christmas" for my husband since December 13th. Of course, I know that the real "Twelve Days of Christmas" begins with Christmas day and counts down to Epiphany, but, for the purpose of blessing my husband, I started it on the 13th of this month and will end on the 24th.

Since we had already committed to not spending anything on each other this year, I had to get creative with my gifts. I took the liberty of spending some of our food money on him...I figured that money would be spent either way, so I did not feel as though I was violating our "no spending" commitment! I made a card with the words "On the ________ day of Christmas, my true love gave to me..." on the front and drew a picture hint of what the gift would be on the inside. I put each of these in an envelope with the number on the front and wrote "Merry Christmas" on the back. I gave him the envelope for the day at breakfast each morning (with the exception of day two, which I attempted to hide in his lunchbox...he ended up not eating lunch that day...oops!). It has been so fun for me to give these to him and he has enjoyed this new treat. I hope to make it a tradition every Christmas!

Here is the list of what he received thus far:

1. One polo shirt (I had returned something to Kohl's and was able to get this off the clearance rack for the exact price of what I returned)
2. Watching "Lord of the Rings: Two Towers" together after the baby went to bed (I did not realize how LONG this movie was, so Kerry was gracious and let us watch something else instead!)
3. Singing "We Three Kings" as a family
4. Four fun and flirty (!) text messages throughout the day
5. Five haikus written just for him
6. Six Reese Peanut Butter Trees
7. Seven encouraging Bible verses
8. Eight scotcheroos
9. Nine love notes hidden throughout the house
10. Ten significant songs from our relationship

Today is day eleven and I would like to take this opportunity to publicly praise my husband by posting...

Eleven Reasons Why I Love You

1. You are an incredibly intelligent and life-long learner. I am constantly amazed at the sheer volume of subjects you know about. If ever I have a question about something, I can be pretty confident that you will know the answer. You are always striving to learn new things and to better understand the things you already know.
2. You love Jesus with all your heart. You make time to be in His Word on a regular basis. You make a point to pray with me before we go to bed at night and at the table before our meals. You are an example to others, especially in your family, as evidenced by the fact that you are called upon to pray when we gather for family celebrations. 
3. You spend time with our son. Despite your busy schedule, you make it a priority to get down on the floor and play with Julian every chance you get. I love to see his face light up and hear his little laugh when daddy tickles him or throws his up in the air. You are a wonderful daddy to our little boy. 
4. You remember the little things. You do this on a pretty regular basis, but the example that will always stick in my mind is from when we first started dating. I had told you how my dad celebrated my half birthday when I was growing up by making me half of a birthday cake and writing "Hap Birt Fa" on it. You remembered this and made me half a pan of scotcheroos, complete with "Hap Birt Fa". 
5. You love to read. I devour books. I am so glad that you enjoy reading, too, because we can spend the evening cuddling on the couch, reading our own books and enjoying time together. I can't wait to read some books together with you this coming year. 
6. You are a hard worker. You personify Colossians 3:23 for me. No matter what you are doing, whether it be changing a diaper or learning the codes for your new job, you do it to the best of your ability and with all your heart. 
7. You recognize and appreciate the work I do in our home. Not every stay at home mom has a husband that sees the value in her working at home. I am so thankful that you value my role as homemaker and caretaker of our son. 
8. You are patient with me and others. This is an area in which I struggle. I am not very patient sometimes (okay...most of the time!). I think God purposefully matched us together so I can learn to be patient by your godly example.
9. You encourage me to be a better person. Whether in regards to exercising consistently or making it possible for me to join a mom's group, you are always looking out for ways to encourage and strengthen me, inside and out.
10. You put up with my harebrained (sometimes!) ideas. Everything from getting rid of conventional toothpaste to making stock with chicken feet. You take it all in stride and don't complain or make fun of my experiments. What sticks in my mind is the time I made brussel sprouts and they were awful, really awful. You choked one down without complaining, so I figured they turned out great! Not so much. I took my first bite and spit it out :)
11. You are easygoing and excited about our future. Whenever I start to get worried or begin to panic about our future, I think about how God has it all planned and how you never seem to get worked up over it. Certainly, you have worked hard to prepare to enter medical school, but you have done so with an open heart and a calm spirit, knowing and trusting that "Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand." (Proverbs 19:21)

Thank you, Kerry, for loving and leading me these past 16 months. I can't imagine my life without you, my love. 

photo credit: Samantha Lynn Photography

Merry Christmas!

photo credit: Kelsey Sliger

Some highlights from 2011:

Welcoming Julian Arthur Storms into our family. Kerry and I became parents on May 5th, 2011 and are loving learning how to care for, love and teach this little life the Lord has entrusted to us.
Finishing school, at least for this season. I finished up my undergrad requirements a week after Julian was born. I will get to walk in graduation at Moody in May of 2012. Kerry finished up his post-undergraduate work at Bradley just a few weeks ago. We will enjoy this semester off from school before jumping back into it (at least for Kerry) with medical school in the fall.
Moving to a new apartment. We moved to our new apartment in June and are SO happy with the place. We have two bedrooms, space for a kitchen table and outlets all over the place! We are living by a beautiful nature center where Julian and I spent many hours throughout the summer and fall. We will always remember our first apartment together, but are definitely happy to be out of there.
Learning more about trusting the Lord. Our life is pretty up in the air right now. Kerry has three interviews for medical school scheduled for January. We have absolutely no idea where we will be 6 months from now. That is a scary thought, especially for a micro-managing planner like myself, but I know that the Lord knows where we will be and that is enough for me. This passage has been and will continue to be our anthem as we move forward, placing our worries at the foot of the cross and sitting back to enjoy the wild ride the Lord has planned for us.

Matthew 6:25-34

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of your by worrying add a single hour to your life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you - you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough troubles of its own.

Have a blessed Christmas in the Lord!