Sunday, June 19, 2011

A Daddy to Me

This Father's Day is one spent far away from my Dad, but alongside another man whom I love and adore, and believe was a Daddy if only for a moment. My husband.

Our story is not one free of pain or heartache, but rather it is a story of how two people made the decision to go ahead together, figuring they worked better together and stronger together than apart.

I met my husband at a coffee shop where I worked through college. He was a sweet, kind man, who gave me butterflies whenever he walked in. I would drop everything just to help him, hoping to catch a glimmer of that sweet smile, hear that deep voice. My heart would leap up into my chest, and my breath would catch, especially in the moment he asked me to go to dinner. We ended up talking for hours, never making it to the movies, but relishing in those moments over our coffee.

It took months for my husband to tell me this (then my boyfriend), but on the night we hugged goodnight after that fateful first date, my husband knew we would get married. He had a dream a few years before about him and another woman sitting on a beach somewhere. He never saw her face, but could see that she had red hair. The smell of her hair, the freckles on her skin, all appeared to him so vividly. Then, God's voice resounded from the Heavens, saying, "Do not be afraid, I have someone for you."

On the night my husband hugged me, the night of our first date, he said I smelled just like the woman in his dream. That my hair matched hers, and my freckles were a connection of hers. I was the girl from his dream.

And since then, he has been the man in mine.

A year ago, when we said good-bye to our first little one, I thought for sure my heart would remain empty, that I would never be the same. While, I have been changed by that day, I love more now than I ever have.

We made two cross-country moves in less than four months, and now live happily and quietly in the country. Our life is not our own, this much we know for sure. But every day is a gift, and every day spent with my husband is a reminder of how God gave me the greatest gift of all.

Love.

Love beyond all measure, love without boundaries, love free from restraint, love from this amazing man.

He may have only been a Daddy for a short while, but this day still belongs to the man who stole my heart years ago.

Tomorrow we celebrate our anniversary, two amazingly celebratory days, but with the love of your life, everyday is a dream come true.


May we stay this way forever.

5 comments:

Shannan Martin said...

This is just beautiful! Thank you for sharing with us. I love hearing the love stories of others. :)

KTW said...

How beautiful, Jaclyn. :) Your marriage is absolutely a thing of beauty. You are so incredibly blessed! :)

Simple Home said...

What a sweet post. Happy Anniversary to you both!
Blessings,
Marcia

Mama M. said...

Jaclyn, what a beautiful post! I absolutely adore that photo of you two...what a sweet moment! Oh, and Happy Anniversary (a little late!!)!

Little Wife on the Prairie said...

Oh Jaclyn, he is still a daddy and always will be. That sweet baby is as real and alive as those who are here. I heard once that the people we lose in life will be a bigger part of our future than they were of our past. I just love that we serve a God of promise and hope in life eternal. Much love sister.