Dearest Love,

You talked to me when I was your sisters’ friend.  You treated me normally when we were in those awkward early years of adolescence.  You teased me just like you teased your sisters so I could be myself.

You were a friend to me when I was a silly, frumpy, opinionated teenager.  You laughed with me at the inside jokes we all shared.  You helped me in every game we ever played together.  You met my eyes with a twinkle and a smile across the badminton net, across the table, across the room.

You got on the phone when I called your sisters.  You wrote letters to my brother and me.  You asked me questions so I would have to write back.

You sensed my moods.  You listened to my troubles.  You had a ready, thought-out answer to my every question.  You told me you prayed for me and I knew you meant it.

You posed for pictures with me.  You put up with teasing from everyone about me.  You stayed there, steady, constant, my friend when anyone else would have given up.

When you told me you loved me, I knew you’d mean it for all time.  When you knelt down in this field and put this ring on my finger, I knew I was the happiest girl in the world.  When you wrapped me in your arms and kissed me tight, I knew what it meant to be cherished.

You built our home with our own two hands.  You wrote me every day, even when you were building and planting and working all hours.  You called me just to tell me you loved me.  You made it clear to everyone around me that I was your girl and that I was loved by you.

You wore a tuxedo for me on our wedding day.  You were the reason I couldn’t stop smiling.  You were the only one for whom I’d leave all I’d ever known.  You were where my heart was at home.  You were my husband, my best friend.

You bought me Vick’s Vapor Rub when I got sick on our honeymoon.  You carried a tripod and posed for kissing pictures all over Yellowstone and the Tetons.  You took me book shopping.  You let me sleep while you drove.

You eased me into life as a farmer’s wife ever-so-gently.  You let me lend a slow and inexperienced hand in everything from electrical to painting as you finished our home.  You patiently taught me the antique trade.  You excused my black thumb and explained everything about gardening in a way that never made me feel dumb.  You were my emotional rock even when you were the one lying in the hospital bed.

You cared for me so tenderly in the days of morning sickness and pregnancy.  You watched in awe the process of me becoming a mother.  You burst with pride as you became a father.

Your wisdom is ever present as you train our children.  Your patience is unwavering as you love your emotional girl turned hormonal wife.

You like my hair however I cut it.  You put up with my crazy sense of fashion.  You promise to take me shopping whenever I complain that nothing fits.

You make it enjoyable to cook a good meal.  Your clothes make folding the laundry a precious reminder of you.  Your coming home makes the long days survivable.

Your arms are the place I find rest.  You and you alone can relax me with just a touch.  You still me and slow me down and make me live in the moment of here and now and this kiss.

Your constant gratefulness for me being a good wife keeps me striving to be what you think I am.  Your belief in me keeps me going.

You love me in the sunshine and in the shade.  You love me when it’s bitter cold and when it’s sticky hot.  You love me on the cloudy days and when it’s pouring rain.

Your patience with my tears and my tiredness makes me feel cherished.  Your eyes tell me I’m beautiful even when the mirror and scale would lead me to think otherwise.

Your delight in the simple things and quiet pleasures and traditional styles and old-fashioned décor make homemaking easy and farm living beautiful.  Your fetish for buying me chocolate and lighting candles and serving gourmet ice cream and ordering gifts and playing the best Classical and Country CD’s keeps me in a constant state of surprise and adoration.

Your never failing to read the Bible to me and to the girls keeps me in the Word even when I don’t make time to sit down with it myself.  Your prayers are words of such trust that they give me assurance when I lack.  Your simple faith in our Savior and His Word alone bring me back to the basics when I get caught up in controversy.

You love me by doing the dishes at night.  You love me by building me an herb garden.  You love me by rubbing my back when your muscles have to be more tired.  You love me by washing the car and pumping the gas.  You love me by shoveling the snow and getting the mail when the driveway is icy.  You love me by letting me drink all your coffee.  You love me by building me a clothesline.  You love me by letting me eat eggs for breakfast even when the hens aren’t laying many.  You love me by eating what I cook even when it’s too spicy or it’s Asian food for the umpteenth time.  You love me by ignoring the dusty furniture and messy piles.  You love me by vacuuming and washing the windows.  You love me by bringing in fire wood and starting the fire.  You love me by helping the girls with their bedtime routine so I can put up my feet.  You love me by reading aloud to me even when the book wasn’t your choice.  You love me by bringing me a snack even after we’ve brushed our teeth.

You love me in hundreds of different ways every day.  You love me in the little looks, the quick squeeze of the hand, the extra kiss you let me take.

You love me by being you.  And in loving me, you show me His love.

Thank you for being Love personified.  I am ever so humbly grateful to be your love, to call you my Valentine.

Love always,
me