33 Years!

Today marks my parent's 33rd wedding anniversary..and that is no April Fool's joke!

My parents have set such an amazing example of what a marriage should be like and while no marriage is perfect, my parents' comes pretty darn close.

Emily re-pinned an article the other day on Pinterest and it was titled "10 actions that kids learn from their parent’s marriage." I clicked on the link and sure enough, each bullet on the list made me think of my parents and nod my head.

Before you get confused about who Cathy is, the article is written by the husband, Doug Fields, who seems to be a youth minister.

1. Affection: Cathy & I are very affectionate and I like having my kids see me holding their mom’s hand, hugging, kissing, cuddling, etc… as often as I can.

She may kill me for posting this picture, but it's one of my favorites!

2. Saying “I’m sorry”: I want to be quick to use this phrase and I want my kids to hear me say it (and I have to say it a lot more than Cathy).

3. Affirmation: this is my primary love language so it’s easy for me to dish out encouraging words. My kids get a lot of verbal affirmation, but they also hear me directing it toward my wife (which is really easy).

4. Attraction: I think Cathy is hot… and, I make it known around our family. I’ll regularly say, “Isn’t your mom beautiful?”

His caption says, "With a wife like this..........why woudn't I be smilin'!!"

5. Time: our kids know that we like to spend time together. When they see us steal time away to sit in the backyard and talk, or go in the hot tub, or go on a date night, or sneak away for the weekend…that’s a good message I want them to see.

Dad's Valentine set up for my Mom this year.

6. Laughter: we laugh a lot in our house and my wife’s cute sense of humor cracks me up. I like having my kids see that my wife makes me laugh.

7. Respect: opening the door for Cathy, saying “thank you” and “please” and showing her simple signs of respect.

8. Faith conversations: we’re not always praying in front of our kids, but they hear and see our faith conversations and know that we’re always talking about Jesus and what it means to be a follower.

9. The value of friends: our house is well worn from the traffic of friends in/out of our house. We love having people over and the Fields’ house is a regular hangout for some incredible friends.

Our favorite kind of friends...the garnet & black kind! :)

10. Servanthood: I know my kids have had a better example in Cathy than with me because she’s the ultimate servant. Always asking, “How can I help? What do you need to make life better?” Serving one another is seen in the daily, little things and there’s many opportunities to serve.

Thank you, Mom & Dad, for showing me what true love is. I hope Cameron & I follow in your footsteps!

Cameron & I with my parents the night we got engaged.

Cheers to many, many more! I love you both!