I came downstairs, tired and grumpy as I always am in the morning. I approached my kitchen counter for my first stop. As I began the routine of making the kids breakfast, packing lunches and making my coffee, I glanced down at his note.
I blushed. I smiled. I sighed.
My daughter came beside me and saw the note as I held it to my heart.
“He never forgets, does he mom?”
“No. Never. And I save every single one of them. Honey, I pray that one day; you will find the man who loves you like your father loves me…
A man who takes time to feed your heart and honor your dreams.
A man who nurtures your weaknesses and carries your burdens.
A man who tells you over and over again that you’re beautiful.
A man that sees beyond your flaws and embraces your quirks.
A man who puts your needs first and his second.
A man who praises your efforts and accepts your failings.
A man who holds you when you crumble and raises you when you desperately need the lift.
A man who forgives your mistakes and remembers your gifts.
A man who listens to your thoughts and cherishes your perspective.
A man who realizes your potential and admires your purpose.
A man who trusts you with his vulnerabilities and realizes his insecurities.
A man of honesty and strength and integrity who can lead his family with faith and perseverance.
A man of deep passion for all he holds dear.
A man that never gives up or lets go, because sometimes life gets hard.
A man who realizes his worth and values yours.
A man who sacrifices much so that you can have plenty.
A man who loves you as you are and celebrates as you grow.
A man who is committed and dedicated to loving you.
Oh, precious daughter. Don’t settle for anything less.”
I so agree with this … sending the same message to my daughters! I pray for them to be blessed with men who love and cherish them:)
AMEN to THAT Seana!!
Aww, made my heart melt and warm a bit more on this cold morning. Happy Valentine’s Day and thank you for sharing, Chris!! 🙂
I hope YOU have a man like this Janine… I can’t imagine anything less than that for YOU, my friend. Gems like you deserve this kind of love. XOXO
I pray the same thing for all of my kids. I pray they find wonderful spouses (if marriage ends up being their calling) but also that they be wonderful spouses themselves.
I so enjoy reading about good, strong examples of marriage.
Unfortunately, there are few examples of strong marriages- and that breaks my heart. ugh.
Aw! Your sweet words about your wonderful husband made me tear up. I am so glad that you have a husband who loves and honors you. (and I know that he is equally blessed to have such a loving and beautiful mate in his life) You deserve every good thing, my friend. 🙂 Happy Valentine’s Day!! –Lisa
AW! Thanks so much Lisa!!!! As do YOU, my friend. As do YOU. Mwuah!
Wow! Love this. (I totally related to your first sentence!) I’m going to share this with my girls.
Funny thing- the note he left, wasn’t the Valentine. It was a regular note he leaves (almost) every day for me… because he knows that my love language is words of encouragement. THAT’S the man I married! THAT’S the man our children should be able find…
A beautiful post. I hope you print it out for her to keep always. Something we all want, and we all want for our daughters.
Do you know I print out every one of my posts and have them all in a box for each of my children? yep, I do. 😉
Love this! Love that you are loved so dearly and can make that an example for your daughter!
Me too Karmen… me too!! 🙂
Awwwwwh bless. That’s very sweet, and sounds like you have a wonderful man 🙂 Glad your kids are getting such good role models 😀
I DO have a wonderful man… much like yours. 😉
I hope my sons will be this way to their future spouses. They have a great model in their dad, so they’ve got a great start.
Happy Valentine’s Day, Chris! xo
I have a GOOD feeling they will be amazing husbands, Jen!!! 🙂
So beautiful. Right now I only have a son, and every day I pray that we are able to raise him to be the kind of husband, father, and person that his dad is – the kind of person who loves with all his heart, be it his wife, his children, or the stranger at the grocery store.
I love that your husband has that kind of heart, Katie. Those are the good guys indeed! I wish every woman would be able to have that kind of love…
You are so lucky- and he is lucky to have you too! As he obviously knows…
We really are blessed, Kate. I am forever grateful! 🙂
You made me teary eyed. I hope that I’ve been an example for my son and my daughter to always love yourself enough to find someone who loves you twice as much!
You touched on something very true- finding love is really two-fold, isn’t it? They have to love themselves enough to realize they are worthy of this love we speak of… I pray that will be true for them!!
—-beautiful.
we all deserve a man like this. ALL of us.
I already have mine…& I can’t help imaging (often) that my sister Kay never did… NEVER
. She’s always say, “Kim, I wish I had somebody who really loved me.”
….except now with Our Father in Heaven.
xxx
Awful. Just awful that she didn’t have the love she so deserved. I bet our Heavenly Father is making it up to her now…
What sweet, sweet words and wishes for your daughter. I hope to raise those men; and I hope my daughter finds one of them!
AMEN to THAT Rabia!!!!
This is beautiful and believe me, you are showing them exactly what they should look for and they won’t settle for less!
Oh do I pray, Sandy. Oh, do I pray!!! 🙂
I wish to God that my husband and I a being great examples to our kids. But my husband and I will do our darnedest best to raise them well.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
You have the drive and the love and the passion for your kids that will surely do just that, Jhanis!!!
And, for me, I hope my boys become that type of man because every single female deserves that from their guy!!!
AMEN to THAT Kim!! Amen to THAT!! I have the same hopes for my boy!!
This is beautiful, my friend. I love that you have that! Note to self…must share.
I love you for all your sharing!! It means THE WORLD to me, Laurie!!! XOXO
Beautiful, Chris. You are blessed beyond measure, my friend. Happy Valentine’s Day.
I am truly blessed!! I call Derek my ‘miracle’. 🙂
So beautiful!
Thank you Trinity!!! I appreciate you coming by to read this!
She won’t because she has her father as an example.
Scarlet and Cassidy are TIGHT. I believe she’s learning fantastic things about what to look for in a man one day. And I believe it’s going to be great..
They really soak it in… and I pray that our girls find another Cassidy and Derek to honor and treasure their hearts!!
Aw, Chris – how blessed you are to have such a wonderful man. And he is equally blessed, I know. Happy belated Valentine’s Day!
These are the important things really…. not that there are dishes still in the sink that he said he would do, or that he forgets almost everything I ask him to do. LOL Eh- not important! 😉
Beautiful. It occurs to me all the time how our marriage sets the example. Makes it doubly important to work on it all the time.
Glad you had a lovely start to valentines day!
I think of that truth all the time…. our kids see everything and soak it ALL in. They will surely learn how to love and be loved from us.
Yes….I don’t even know what else to say…except yes….xo
I’ll say it- YOU deserve this and don’t YOU settle for ANYTHING less!!!!
🙂
Yeah. Just yeah. My biggest fear is that my daughter will settle for less and so we work every day to make sure she knows that she never should. Loved this, Chris!
One of my biggest fears too, Lisa. Yeah, I get it. Lets PRAY they make the right choice!!!
Tears! This is SO awesome % so true! Even though the Hubs never got to meet my Daddy, there are some days I wanna scream “stop, you act just like Daddy sometimes.” Not in a weird way, just certain mannerisms are a lot alike, I never thought I would be interested in somebody like that, guess I was wrong (2nd time around)
I think it’s certainly not by accident he shows ‘signs’ of your father SSSF… I just love that!!!
Beautiful Chris! I have a man like that and I certainly hope my daughters all find a man like that someday, too! We are lucky to have them and I they are lucky to have us! 🙂
We are BLESSED women indeed!!! I love reading about the good guys… 🙂
What a beautiful description of a good and faithful husband. Looks like we both found gems. This fits the love of my life to tea. I’m so blessed to have found him.
Oh Stephanie, we are so SO blessed aren’t we? I am so glad you have the kind of man you deserve and frankly, all women deserve!
I tell my step daughter this all the time: you don’t have to settle for anything less. Be with a man like your father. They exist. I found him. True love. xo
I love that- they DO EXIST Leah!!! Sometimes you have to wait to really discover where and who they are…. and it’s worth the wait!
I love that he sees what a gem he has in you. That’s one thing I can honestly say. I didn’t settle. I never felt like I was in a hurry or that Leo was my only choice. I chose him because he was everything I wanted in a man and he is that and more. I think we are some of the lucky ones. 🙂
Oh do I agree AnnMarie!!! We are truly BLESSED beyond belief!!
This is beautiful, Chris. And exactly what I want for my daughters…when they’re 30!
AMEN to THAT Nicole!!! 😉
So, first off…I’VE MISSED READING YOUR BLOG!!! Been a busy couple of weeks!
Second – This is true of Derek, and my precious hubby! What gifts we have in them!
Third – I am SO printing this and giving it to my girls! They’ve witnessed our love, our awesome highs and our extreme lows. I want them to hold out for the men that God has been preparing just for each of them. The men he’s given hearts to hold theirs.
SO beautiful!
AW!!! I miss you BIG Tam!! And YES- your girls and my girl deserve nothing LESS THAN THE men we are blessed to have!!!
so true…. very well said. I wish all of these for my daughters. I believe that true love exist and it is worth the wait. Thanks for sharing.
Yes Sherill!! It truly IS worth the wait. And worth all the heartbreaks to find the right one! May our daughters find exactly this. <3
Thanks so much for stopping by to read this, Sherill. 🙂
Love the post! You are worthy, do not settle for anything less.This is what our children should live by. Thanks for sharing your wonderful story.
Oh thank you so much Lynne for reading this!! I will keep drilling that message into my girl for her lifetime, and pray for it to sink in always.