How to be an awesome husband (and happy v-day!)

Happy Valentine’s Day!

How to be an awesome husband

(Obviously this is based on Mark)

• Make Jesus a priority. 
• Mark prays for us every night, makes sure going to church is a priority (even if he works overnight the night before), tithes, and asks me about, and encourages my walk with Jesus.
• Work so hard to provide financially for your family.
• Mark has spent the past two years working really hard, at some pretty crappy jobs (including pizza delivery, dishes for a catering company, yard work, and dog sitting) and spent almost his whole paycheck on PA school, and my medical bills. I honestly don’t know if I would be selfless enough to do that for him, he is such a stud.
• Share interests.
• You won’t obviously love everything your wife does (and if you say you do, you are lying). But try to share some of the things she does. Mark does this by watching the Bachelor with me on Monday nights and laughs and jokes with me through it, which means so much. Also, we have these two lovely little girls I babysit (Anna and Amy) every weekend. I LOVE this. Mark does not. I know this. But I know he also makes a huge effort to enjoy them and play with them and shows me so much love through that. Find new things that you enjoy together, for us, its mountain biking, board games, cooking (and eating), scramble with friends, libraries, and double dates.



Mark with sweet little Anna at the park

•  Be patient.
• Girls are moody. I am the moodiest. Your wife probably is too. Take deep breaths and be patient.
• Deal with conflict – quickly.
•  Don’t let it build up, if something is bothering you, speak up out of love so that Satan does not get a foot hold. For example, I have this horrible habit of playing Tetris on my phone whenever we are talking about things that I don’t really want to hear about or am annoyed. Which is super lame and bratty – I know. The other day Mark so gently explained how much he hates that and would just appreciate if I sat there and listened. He brought to my attention the bad habit and now I can fix it.
• Forgive easily.
• What a better way to be the head of a house, and lead as Christ does, than to forgive?
• Serve your wife.
• Mark cleans our mess of a room, does dishes, cooks dinner, does laundry, and rubs my back. These are the things that serve me the most. I am sure these things wouldn’t be the best for every couple. Some girls love flowers and gifts, but Mark has learned what serves me most and does that.
• Love her family.
• I know Mark does not always get my crazy sisters and mom and I, but he loves them. Even though he knows we will probably be too loud and obnoxious, someone will cry at some point, and there will be fights. He has sat through so much family drama, but still encourages our relationships with them. He reminds me how much he loves them and cares for them, and makes sure we spend time with them.

Mark fits in so nicely with the girls :)

• Be content.
• We are in a season of not much extra (or any at all) income right now. And Mark is content. He doesn’t complain, and leads in being content. He makes a big deal out of little things we get to do, and finds joy in what we do have.
• Do as many crappy errands as you can.
• Like fill her gas tank up, change her oil, carry in groceries. Mark always gets me two liters when he comes to Detroit and carries them all the way up to the apartment and I LOVE not having to do that.
• Make her laugh.
• This is so important. I assure you this will make your life seem much easier. Find things that you can laugh together about. Mark is hilarious, so most of the time we don’t have a problem with this :)

This is what Mark did to my room one Valentines day in college. It made me laugh. And actually my roommates and I used that toilet paper for months in our bathroom. Ha.

I assure you we are far from a perfect couple, and Mark would be the first to say he is growing and learning a lot as a husband. But he’s pretty amazing, and I love him so much, and it’s Valentine’s day. So go celebrate love!

Love,
Brittany