We have this ideal as teenage girls, that “Knight in Shining Armor who sweeps us off our feet and takes us away to Happily Ever After.” We dream of him, and plan for him, and place our hopes around someday finding him.
He will be handsome, charming, intelligent, strong, and romantic. All at once.
Then we meet the man we marry, we fall in love and we SEE him as this knight in Shining Armor. We put him up on a pedestal and expect him to be the paragon we dreamed of in our youth.
And then, suddenly- he isn’t. You probably realize it gradually as he makes little mistakes, or even big ones. Maybe he steals the TV remote and changes the channel without asking, or puts the toilet paper roll on backwards. Maybe he forgets to tell you that you are beautiful or even yells when he’s having a bad day. But he isn’t perfect. You watch movies and read books with handsome heroes who arrive at the perfect moment to kiss the heroine in the rain, and you wonder. Why isn’t my life like that? You still love your husband, you just wish you had MORE. More of what you think it means to be in love, but you are wrong. In all of your wishing, and hoping, you are missing all the little things that really matter.
We need to redefine what it means to be a Knight in Shining Armor.
Today I was sick. I have a nasty cold with a fever, chills, stuffy nose, headache, the works. And it was a horrible day, full of screaming, fighting children and a progressively messy house. My husband was at work all day, he’s a police officer and works a 12 hour shift, so this is a LONG day- full of stress and frustration. When he came home over an hour late, the best I was able to have waiting for him was a plate of deviled eggs and 4 hungry crabby children waiting to be fed and put in bed.
The Heroes in stories may rescue damsels in distress from hungry dragons, but the Hero in my life simply sent me back to bed. He then not only fed the four hungry children, but got them ready for bed, and curled up on the couch reading them stories until they were tired. He got the older ones busy cleaning up the kitchen and doing dishes and after tucking in the 2 little ones, he came in to check on me.
Moments like this are easy to miss, if you are busy waiting for a fairytale romance. I sometimes catch myself wishing my husband was more romantic, and that he would tell me I’m beautiful everyday, or bring me flowers and chocolate. But I have learned over the years that those things aren’t real, they fade and are meaningless in the face of the trials that life brings.
True Romance – in REAL LIFE, more often comes in the form of,
Letting me sleep in, when he’s worked several days in a row and needs sleep badly.
Taking the kids to the park so I can have some much needed me time
Doing the dishes when they are piled up and getting crusty
Bringing a symphony bar with toffee in it home from the store after a long day of work- and sharing it piece by piece for several days.
Growing a beautiful garden for our family and making sure to plant lots of Zucchini for me, since its my favorite!
Turning off ESPN and changing the channel to HGTV without being asked
Grabbing a basket of laundry and folding it without being asked.
Putting the kids to bed so I can have a girls night
When our babies were small he would get up with them every morning and play with them so I could sleep in after a long night
Overlooking a messy house, and dirty room- because he loves me
Taking me out for a date, even when we don’t have the money- just because he knows I need out of the house!
Not yelling about the fact that I lost the keys…again.
So, can you do it? Can you watch for the little things your husband does to show you he loves you? Try to take a little time each day to notice and be grateful for the things he does for you. And thank him for them!
Post in the comments and share what your husband does to bless your life.
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