Today, I need to take time to brag on the wonderful man in my life. My loving, providing, caring, and devoted fiancé.
Before I begin, a slight disclaimer– I’m completely okay now, healthy as a horse. But, this is a lovely selfie from the Vanderbilt Hospital ER, where Luke took me around 4 PM on Saturday.
Six hours later, he was still there in full force to chauffeur my exhausted self home, when he was just as tired as I was. He never once left my side, and he never once said a negative word– despite the miserable environment that is the emergency room in a busy hospital.
The world tells us that true love looks like the perfect proposal videos we see on YouTube, the charming wedding photos that litter every Pinterest feed, and the perfectly styled engagement photos that always make us let out a heavy, wishful sigh when we scroll through them on Facebook.
All of that is great, but I’m of the belief that true love looks an awful lot like my life did on Saturday night.
It looks like him sitting beside me while I made pained faces because I was being jabbed with needles. Offering a listening ear while I was questioned and informed by one doctor, then another, and another. Playing with my hair (because he knows it’s my favorite source of comfort) during hour 3 of sitting in an uncomfortable chair while waiting for test results. Giving me a smile and a kiss on the forehead when I probably looked like I might cry from sheer impatience at any given moment.
“In sickness and in health” should be more than just a line that’s parroted back in front of a hundred people at a carefully orchestrated event in a white dress and a tux. So often I think that phrase is thought of as something that will “never happen to us.” And WHEN (not “if”) sickness does happen, lovers are left overwhelmed with the sudden weight of a less-than-healthy partner– whether it be a hiccup physical, spiritual, or emotional health.
But, how very blessed I am to have a man who’s living that out long before we ever say our vows. How lucky I am to live life with someone who shows me his love every single day– in the little things and the big. On the bad days of lengthy ER visits and utter exhaustion, and on the good days of drive-in movies and picnics. During the sweet times laughter and joy, and during the dark times of anxiety, panic, and sorrow.
In sickness. And in health.
The good days are there. The days where we celebrate life’s milestones together are there. The overwhelmingly beautiful and joyful days are there… the mountaintops. But that’s not all that life is.
And as my favorite, Ben Rector would say, “Life is not the mountaintops. It’s the walking in between, and I like you walking next to me.”
“I thank my God every time I remember you.” Philippians 1:3
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