My husband.

My husband is a modern day Renaissance Man.
No, really.
He is.
I don't just seem him through rose-colored glasses.

He loves exploring.
He has thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to (almost) Pennsylvania, a hundred miles or so at a time and plans to finish it sometime before he dies. (Side note: He started going the summer he graduated from college. His gear and the gift were from his dad, whom we affectionately call "Pops.")

He loves Europe and has been on three different occasions, all with high school students. He longs to students to obtain a different perspective on life through the lens of different cultures. To appreciate, to learn, and possibly to apply to life here in the States. (He took Halie one year with him to Italy. The following year, he took ME and Halie to France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Lichtenstein, and Czech Republic.)

He loves to surf and has taken many trips to Costa Rica to ride the waves. We even went there on our honeymoon.

 He's super adventurous.
He, along with his brother, dad, and other family members (and other talented friends) built our current cottage one summer while on break from school. Doing that has allowed our mortgage (aka: death pledge) to be extremely affordable.

He wants to do everything. He wants to fly for the Blue Angels, star in Discovery's "Out of Venezuela" or a show like that, rock-climb, sail a trans-oceanic voyage, build a timber-frame house, make a storage-container house, live in another state, live in another country, help people with finances (he is a Dave Ramsey type of person), be a musician, etc.

The thing, though, that he most aspires to do and be is a lover of Christ and a lover of me and our family. He is so passionate about training our children. He wants to pour out his life into them. I love that. I love him. He's the guy that I thought never would exist... In so many ways, he shows me that God is faithful to hear our cries and that God is sovereign of all things. And that God loves me. This man cares about me and cares for me. He provides comic relief and sound wisdom. He also speaks the hard truth readily to me. But he reminds me to rely on the grace of God in Christ Jesus.

Thank you, Lord, for Brian.