A Perfectly Imperfect Gift

Because Jon is such a good listener and patient counselor, guys pour out their troubles to him all the time. Unfortunately, he currently has three different friends in the midst of serious marital upheaval. One of their wives was still posting idyllic stories and photos on social media about their marriage and family even as the whole thing was unraveling.

The last image I ever want to portray online, or in reality, is that we are doing better than anyone else. What I'm preaching to my vets and students this season is that comparison is one of the many thieves of joy. With social media, we're comparing 100% of our own story to about the top 5% of other folks' lives. It's basically bound to be depressing.

For this reason, I hesitate to even write about my man and all his hard work around our house. But when our partners have done good (and maybe we hope they'll do such things again someday), we really need to make sure they, and everyone else, know how good they've done.

So, in honor of another year completed, in what he likes to call his "mid-thirties," here are a few pics of just how great this guy has been to us recently.

Someone sure has an awesome Daddy to look up to! They're gonna need matching tool belts soon.

I agree Zy, he's my hero too...

Ruby had no idea this fence she was helping with was intended to stifle all her fun of roaming the neighborhood.

Look at what my man built, not just a fence from scratch but STAIRS! I couldn't even make a popsicle stick model of this.

Sometimes he just pulls down 30 year-old eyesore trees with his bare hands, well maybe with a little help from the truck too.

You would think that work, night school, and never-ending projects around the house would fill up his schedule, but he always finds time to play with his Mini-Me.

Happy Belated Birthday to God's perfect gift to our family. God knew what He was doing when He brought these two imperfect people together to sharpen and refine each other with our rough edges. There's nothing flawless, or even idyllic, about our romance, our marriage, or our parenting, but sometimes there are beautiful moments, and efforts worth praising. Those are the ones I want to focus on...