Happy Birthday Baby

You are looking at the doggie bag from Liz's birthday dinner tonight! We went into Lexington to eat and give my wife a chance to shop a little. What a fun night it was!

So, to my beautiful wife, Happy Birthday Baby!! I love you!

Soul Mates

I love to connect with my wife. I love our deep, heart to heart conversations. I love being able to spill the deep things of our heart with one another.

And I love that we had one of those conversations tonight.

He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord. -Bible

... And Again

She did it again!

The Way To My Heart

They say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach...

My wife wins my heart every day!!

[love me some omelet!]

My Good Thing

It was about 12 years ago exactly that my wife and I started dating. 10 years of marriage, 5 kids, and an adventure called "life" later...

I'm so glad we did.

He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord. http://bible.us/Prov18.2.ESV

Losing Control

I love late night talks with my wife. And we've had hundreds of them over the course of our marriage.

They are typically freeing, enlightening, convicting, focusing, loving (or some combination thereof) conversations.

Tonight was no different.

Our conversation tonight probably fell into convicting/feeling-horrible-about-myself category, yet I am thankful for it.

So now the rubber meets the road, it's time to change.

It's time to lose control.

Beautiful Balance

Wow. I am so blessed. My wife is just who I need, providing balance and insight in my life when I can't figure out which way is up.

So thankful for you babe, so thankful your my friend :)

To My Lovely Bride...

Your Eyes Still Capture Me,

Your Love Upholds Me.

Your Beauty Is Immeasurable.

Happy Valentine's Day,

To My Forever Valentine.

I Love You Elizabeth Ann Follman.

A Letter To My Wife, On Our Anniversary...

A letter to my wife, on our anniversary....

Elizabeth,

Ten years ago today I was preparing myself to meet you on an altar in a country church in western New York. Ten years ago we made a promise to one another, to stay together and love one another through thick and thin, good times and bad. We made these promises before the Lord of the Universe who has been with us and has blessed us through our first decade of life together.

I’m so glad we made these promises to each other ten years ago today.

You have been my companion through the thick and thin, the good and bad. You are my friend and lover. You have stuck by my side even when I was difficult to stick by. If there is one quality that you have shown me it is that of your faithfulness.

You are a faithful wife, a faithful mother of our children, you are faithful in the running of our home, and faithful in your walk with Jesus.

You have been my faithful companion.

I thank God, honey, for your love, kindness, patience and faithfulness to me. I don’t deserve the love you give me, yet you give it freely. You are fun, energetic, passionate, compassionate, patient, and more. There is no one else I would rather be spending my life with.

So today, on our ten year anniversary, I want to tell you that I love you. That I would marry you all over again… I am more in love with you today than I have ever been. And I sooo look forward to the next ten years (and more!) together.

I love you. Happy anniversary.

John

Lead Me

One of the most tall and challenging tasks I face as a man is leading my family. The Bible says to love your wife as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her. We are also to teach our children His ways, when we lie down, when we walk, when we are about doing life together. I am the example of the Father heart of God to my kids.

This task is too tall for me. To grand for me to accomplish... on my own.

I woke up this morning with the song "Lead Me" by Sanctus Real in my head. It's another reminder of the great task that lies before us as men, and the fact that we need God's help to accomplish it.

If you haven't heard the song, or even if you have, give it a listen today and be reminded and encouraged as I was.

Emoticon

"All learning has an emotional base." Plato

I know very little of Plato, nor is that the point of my writing, but this random quote I came across made me think. It made me think, if anything, on the place of emotion in my life.

I believe I have a low EQ, that is to say, emotional intelligence (Google it for some interesting background on the topic). I struggle with determining and assessing my emotions. Just ask my wife.

However, I believe blogging is helping me improve on my emotional intelligence. At least I hope so. When I so often can be disconnected from the very emotions and feelings inside of me, blogging requires me to look inside and evaluate what I am really thinking and going through... what I am really feeling.

My wife, Liz, is opposite. Where I struggle to connect with my inner feelings, my wife can recognize hers quickly - not only hers, but mine too in many ways :)

Many times when I think I or we are doing well, her scoreboard says something quite different. I have learned over the years that she has a better gauge on those things than I do, and to pay attention when she is feeling something regarding such.

So, here's to emotion. Hopefully this blogging stuff will help me better my EQ.