Don't usually say much about Whitney cuz she's not on here..... but....
Now that we're coming out of the fog of having a bunch of kids, I have to say how much I admire how selfless she is....
She breastfed for TEN YEARS STRAIGHT for crying out loud!
She had one stretch in Cali where we didn't know what we were doing and we had an industrial-strength pump and was making enough milk for three kids...
I didn't understand why she was always so hungry. I'd make a meal and she'd cry, it was never enough.
She doesn't like blood but has been cut open and her organs placed on a table next to her, while she's awake, to take out our babies. Not once or twice, but four times.
And after Lukas (our second) a foolish doctor told her not to have any more, so she had to walk in faith when God told her there were going to be more.
She's sacrificed her body in ways I don't know I could. She quit coffee, alcohol, processed foods, all for these babies. A quiet spirit who who loves solitude, she finds herself in a rambunctious funny farm where there is a fog horn blasted in her face around every corner, and ankle-biters constantly yanking her arms for fun.
Whitney is not made for this day and age. She doesn't dress in a revealing way, doesn't broadcast how she gets ready for the day or what she's eating or anything like that. She doesn't even compete for conversation. If people want to know her, they will get to know her, and what a gift they will find.
This is a quality of God, who says, come to me.... seek me... and you will find me. The God who says, what is done in public gets its own reward, what is done with me in secret is rewarded in Heaven. God's not pushing his agenda on you (many Christians don't understand this). There is freedom in such an approach to life.
I often marvel that God put Whitney and I together because we're quite different, but I'm always learning from her, its like an endless feast. And frankly, I'm being won over by her mindset, less is more.
We're being more intentional about our rest, guarding our sleep, being selective about what we eat favoring quality, how we spend our time, more reading, creating, singing, time in nature, caring for others (our land, creatures, people), how we care for our bodies and each other, celebrations, learning, good two-way conversations. Understanding the leaning into the rhythms God has created in his cycles and seasons.
We've been married 13 years this May, been through a crazy Spirit-led run, and in many ways, it feels like the foundation has been set for something amazing, which has Whitney's hands, and God's hands through Whitney, all over it.
It strikes me that she's just such a rare gem. The fact that I know that, no matter what situation we face, any challenge or disagreement or pickle we get into, she's going to seek God's face, and He's going to guide her and us together. It is beyond refreshing to have a Godly woman as a wife, can't put into words.
Once when I was at Bethel Church, Redding in their prayer room, I lifted Whitney in prayer and he showed me a vision of a lone white flower in a field, this was my wife (new at the time), and I saw how as time went by, the field grew and eventually she was surrounded by white flowers. This is Whitney, and I love her, and its a great joy in my life to be with her in that field, and see that field growing.
In closing, as a wise pastor Ken Frieson has taught me, an especially poignant lesson for Valentine's Day, Whitney wouldn't be where she is without me, so cheers to me, because without me, Whitney is probably not even in the field to begin with. Can I get an amen?!?