By My Side

I know that many of you at Westside were both surprised and overjoyed to see Rick by my side yesterday morning in the 9:45am Contemporary service. I asked Rick earlier in the week if he'd want to spend Sunday with us - go to church, come over for lunch, and hang out for the afternoon/evening. He worked all night Saturday night but still came with no sleep. Pastor John preached a sermon on forgiveness based off of a clip from the FIREPROOF movie. I think it touched both of us. Later he said that Pastor John kept looking right at him during the sermon. :-) I don't know if he was or not but I think the Holy Spirit was moving in Rick yesterday. We had a good afternoon together. Nothing special... just hanging out as a family. We joked that this was the date where I introduced him to my kids. :-) It was fun.

Lately I've noticed us both doing alot of things that the other has mentioned... little things that one of us has said we liked or wanted or needed. I can see that we're both really listening to each other. I mean REALLY listening to each other. And the cool thing is that when one of us listens and responds, the other acknowledges. It's healthy. It's strong. It's growing. We're building eachother up.

Halfway through Pastor John's service yesterday morning Rick leaned over and asked me out for Thursday night. I kinda like this dating thing! But it was very hard to say 'goodbye' again last night, for me. Especially because I have a cold. It was so nice having him at home all afternoon. We both catnapped on and off throughout the afternoon and it was so nice to know there was another adult there so that I could do that.

Several days ago Rick and I were talking about how him being gone is hard on us individually and as a family in various ways. I was sharing with him that part of me finds it really unfair that I have to be the parent 24/7 that disciplines them and makes them get their jammies on and won't let them eat in the living room. I'm the one always telling them "no" and I'm the one that has to hold them while they cry when they miss Daddy. Yet, he gets to take them to the park and bring them presents and be Super Dad. I didn't think that it really sunk in with him, or honestly, I wasn't sure that he cared. But he so proved me wrong yesterday. He bought the kids each a gift... and then bought them each one for me to give to them. He said that I was right and that it wasn't fair. He didn't want things to be unbalanced so he bought presents from both of us. That gesture meant so much to me. It showed me that he has been listening. It showed me that he cares about the general well-being of our family dynamic. It showed me that he cares about my feelings and my position as their mother. It meant alot to me.

So this Thursday night we're going out again and I can't wait. Each time we're together draws us closer together. And I'm praying that he'll be moving back home soon. The kids pray every night for him to come home and lately they've been praying that he would ask Jesus into his heart. They pick up on everything. And I know that God hears the prayers of our children and I pray that He will answer their pleas quickly.