An Ode to My Guy

Last week, my friend Whitney posted about the importance of affirming our husbands.  Her rule of thumb: "Never bad mouth your husband to anyone.  Ever."  It's amazing how a group of girlfriends can get together and start sharing their struggles, and then before you know it everyone has said something less-than-flattering about the love of their life.  Whitney's words challenged me and encouraged me to be more intentional about publicly affirming my husband.  Pop over and read her post when you get a chance!

I can think of several times in the past few weeks that I have bragged on my husband to friends of mine, but I wanted to take a minute to tell you all about what a rock star the guy has been in the past few months.  I mean, he's always a rock star, but there are some things he's done in the past few months that have really stood out to me, and I want to make sure that he gets some credit!

Airplane watching with his favorite co-pilot at the Memphis Botanical Gardens

My man is in his fourth and final year of optometry school.  Needless to say, the last three years have been a fairly endless stream of trials and hard work.  I could write a novel about everything that Jonathan has been through to get to this point, from leaving a career in finance to obey God's calling to a new field, to putting up with being the oldest undergrad in all of his prerequisite courses, to the grueling first two years of school, to the last year and a half of rigorous days in the clinic and externships.  Add to that a wife, son, and energetic dog, and you've got a lot on one plate.

But there are two specific things that I have especially admired about my man recently.  First, is this guy's incredible sense of time management.  This fall, he is preparing for Part II of Boards in November.  In addition, he has five case study papers to turn in around the same time.  It would be easy for him to wait until the last minute to finish those papers or start studying for boards.  But not this guy.  Knowing that we have family coming for Thanksgiving and a fun weekend trip planned with friends in November, he went ahead and knocked out all five papers during nap times over the course of a couple weekends.  They are totally done!  

Then, during his days at the VA, he often has short breaks between patients.  Instead of joining his classmates in the lobby for chatting, he hops on the computer in his exam room and uses the online study resources for the board exam, getting in about 45 minutes to an hour of studying done each day.  That's an hour that he isn't spending on it at home, which means the world to me!  It takes a lot of planning ahead and sacrifice to fit those things into his schedule, but it makes my life so much more pleasant when he makes that effort.  Throughout optometry school, he has been so intentional about making sure that his academics don't make both of our lives miserable, and I don't think every spouse of a student can say that!  

The other thing that I so admire about my husband is his discipline.  His schedule at the VA requires him to be at the hospital at 7 a.m.  Jonathan is the type of guy who really thrives with physical activity.  He knows that exercise makes him feel better and that it is ultimately worth the commitment for his overall health.  It would be easy for him to cut that out that during this demanding season of life, or for him to go after work, which would cut into our family time.  Instead, the guy gets up at 5:40 three times a week to get a work out in at the school before heading to the hospital.  And at the risk of embarrassing him, I'll just say the hard work shows...ow ow!  ;)  I so admire his personal discipline (although my admiration might be hard to sense when I am rolling over as his alarm goes off!).   

In the midst of all that, he still managed to keep us all afloat during my first trimester, he watches Riggins four times a week while I work out at Jazzercise, he is taking on the role of coordinating worship at our church, and he is just an all-around spectacular husband and father.  He isn't perfect, but he is perfect for me, and I am so honored to be his wife.  

What do you admire about your husband?  Share in the comments or blog about him today!