The 3 qualities I had no idea I would need desperately...

Hard times show true colors and actual abilities. Hard times can make or break us, and hard times also make us grow. 

Back in the day (and because marriage is one of the most life changing choices in a young person's path) I made this list of qualities I wanted my future husband to have, and then I made a list of things I would do to also live up to the requests I was hoping to find in my future husband. 

Ironically, with my mile long list of qualities, I happened to miss the THREE VERY MOST IMPORTANT THINGS I WOULD NEED in my life partner and eternal friend:

1. HUMOR - I could have found ANY DRABLY PERFECT person with all the qualities on my list and lived MISERABLY ever after. But lucky me, Mitchell cracks jokes at just about everything--he's got good timing and a good memory that makes his humor an on-the-spot and in-the-moment stress reliever. It pulls me out of a funk every single time.  
   Like the times he photo bombs! 
   And the times he poses for the heck of it. 🤣
   Or the time he drove around town with a pink unicorn on his work truck. 😂
2. STEADINESS - I think I suffer wth ADHD. Mitch knows how to focus. I am emotionally here, there, and everywhere. Mitch is even tempered. When I panic and believe the sky is falling, Mitch builds something to hold it up. It's just part of who he is. He's logical, and steady (even if he knows how to be funny). And it's part of his persona to be steady by fixing things--it's the way he shows he is THERE for me and for others.
   
   
   
3. GRIT - Some people say "after 3 kids it's all the same"...the joke was on us as our 4th, 5th, and 6th kids are the "hardest" for us. I used to live my life believing I could get thru anything I signed up for because of sheer grit, and determination to never give up. And I did exactly that in all my endeavors until my adrenal glands (aka stress managers) broke. Lucky for me, Mitchell Jay has a seemingly endless reserve of "sheer grit", and when my engine came to a screeching halt, he strapped his strong-hearted-we-can-and-we-will-do-this jet packs on. When life got rougher he pushed the turbo speed button and saved the day. Every day. Every time. I'm getting better and my adrenals are healing, but I'll never forget just how awesome this man is under fire. I get burned in the fire very easily, but turns out Mitch is pretty fireproofed. Who would have known--that's the quality I would need most in my future husband? It's the one thing he possesses that I had no idea our family would desperately need until I ran completely out of my own grit. When we were under flames and fire and in the moments I had nothing left to give is when God showed me the true gift He'd sent our family in this man of mine.He pulls his fair share as a husband and father, and he's a true teammate in raising our 6 kids.

Everyone I know who meets Mitch seems to like him or to love him. They like him because he's naturally funny, he is calm, logical and steady, and he's quite obviously a hard-working-family-man with a boatload of grit (I think it runs in his veins--I've got a lot of Bordens and Whitings to thank for that). I am grateful that this is the man I am blessed to call my husband.