Daily Archives: April 9, 2007

My Protective Man

There is something undeniably esteem-building to know someone finds you worth fighting for.

To see a surge of protectiveness in a man is something close to thrilling.

The main problem, of course, is that none of us (I believe) are actually interested in having our Beloved in the position of danger that we imagine could precipitate that situation.

All that to say I saw an utterly “safe” exhibition of my husband proactively defending me this weekend.

Jay (if there has ever been a question in anyone’s mind) is the computer- genius in our household. I am certainly literate, but he is the poet.

It was Friday, and he was looking at my internet activity after he came home from work, noting how much I’d up- and down-loaded.

“Was this an average day?” he asked, and I immediately began wrestling with a strangling sense of defensiveness.

“Yes, I think so,” I said, trying to remember just what I’d done, and whether I’d been on enough to be embarrassed. “Just a couple of posts on the family blog– general updates.” I relaxed, deciding I was fine.

He was still looking at the little flickering graph on my screen.

“It says here you’ve uploaded three-hundred megabytes today.”

“What?!”

“And you’re still uploading…” He killed the internet connection.

After poking around a while and reaching his verdict, he called me back into the room (I was making dinner).

“Go ahead and close all your windows,” he said. “I’m wiping your computer.”

And that’s what he did. He transfered all my projects to a portable drive, wiped everything off, and spent the next three nights and the days (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) reloading all my programs.

My computer has been glitching for a while now, and this was the final straw.

It is now “cleaner” than it was when it arrived from Dell.

I am very well-taken-care-of.

EEK! Now he tells me!

Last weekend Jay was snow-machining with his family.

From about an hour before he left Saturday, and all Sunday morning I felt this aweful sence of foreboding.  I was continually pulled, tempted, toward fear, and each time (“It’s the most I can do!”) I returned to praying for Jay.

I mentioned my discomfort to a few other people and asked them to join me, and to pray for my own peace too, since I didn’t know if it had anything to do with Jay at all.

When Jay finally called that evening, I felt peace for the first time all weekend, and was finally able to relax.

“Did anything happen this weekend?” I asked.  “Did you have a good time.”

Oh it was great– loads of fun.  His machine never broke down, he was the only one of the party who didn’t get stuck, etc.

I thought his not getting stuck was a sort-of cute anti-climax  to my fervent prayers and the week passed.

Today, for his birthday, I gave Jay an avalanche book written by a lady here in Alaska.

He thought it was great and was thumbing through it and casually mentioned how he broke an avalanche loose Sunday morning.

“Sunday morning!” I say.  “What happened?”

And he says he was zipping along and hears this huge crack, and sees this huge snow starting to lean, so he turned and started ripping away as fast as he could.  He looks over his shoulder, and to his surprise the snow’s not falling.

He, of course, told it much more coherently than that.

I just felt a mind-numbing, gut-twisting realization that there was probably a very real reason I felt my husband was in danger, and that I needed to pray.

I Am Thankful Today

Actually, I’m thankful most days.

But today I am giving a thank-you note. (It is my husband’s birthday.)

And, because I want to remember what I wrote, and maybe give some married readers an idea, I’m putting it here too.

If you read this here, too, Teena, I want this to be honoring to you.

If you read this and want to know why it’s such a big deal to me (other than the obvious) my previous post explains what my mother-in-law did that was unique. She did what every mother needs to do, with less support (I dare say) than most.

Outside of card:
Just a note to say…

Inside of card:
…Thank you, Teena.

Thank you for Jay, and the gift he is to me.

I know he wouldn’t be everything I need today if he hadn’t had you to prepare him for where God would place him.

Thank you for the time and thought you invested in guiding his heart and education.

Thank you for the effort you took to give him a foundation in spiritual things.

Thank you for introducing my husband to Jesus.

Thank you for your faithfulness, Teena.

You have blessed me, more than you’ll ever know.

–Amy Jane

4/9/2007

I wanted to share this idea with more people, so it is now my WFMW this week.

Blessings on your day!

Why I’m Thankful for My Mother-in-Law

My husband grew up (literally) on an island.

A tiny island that only his own family lived on, miles and miles away from the next batch of humanity. It’s still 60-miles away from the nearest town, though a village has since been planted closer.

There is no church, of course.

Jay was home schooled, and remembers being gathered with his brothers to listen to The Children’s Bible Hour on the radio every week for Sunday School.

More than many mothers, his was directly responsible for the information that shaped her sons’ minds and character.

~ ~ ~ ~

I wrote her a thank-you note for my husband’s birthday today.

After I finished writing it, I brought it to Jay and asked his opinion.

“She’ll like it,” he said, shrugging. “She’ll cry, and hug you.”

“Does it bother you,” I asked, “for me to gve her so much credit? Do you feel belittled to have me place so much emphasis on her work?”

I was trying to feel out the source of an unnameable something I felt when he handed the card back to me.

“No.”

“Then what’s wrong?”

He was quiet for just a moment, then said, “I guess I was reminded how important I am to you.”

~ ~ ~ ~

And I guess that’s why I wanted to post this today: because it’s my husband’s 31st birthday, and he is so much of my world.

And he wouldn’t be who he is today if it wasn’t for a faithful mother.