Man of the Year

Ya'll. My husband is always the man of my year, but this year he has outdone even himself.



Even in the best of times, although we don't always like to admit it, I can be slightly high maintenance. In a pregnancy year, you can forget it. It's over, done with, finished. I'm a mess. But then throw in a toddler (that doesn't eat or grow, and is frequently sick), full-time French, house remodeling, travel, shoveling foot after foot of snow all winter, the flu, and now, bed rest. And the guy is not only still standing, but has done it all gracefully, with a happy, well-loved wife and son to show for it.

I'm not saying this is an easy thing for him to do.

First of all, Joe is a (selfless) world-class worrier and it can overwhelm him. His thoughts are always filled with love and concern for his family and their well-being: the pregnancy and any discomfort associated with it, my state of mind, and G's intake of food (or lack thereof), health, development, and growth. However, instead of internalizing all these issues and letting them paralyze him, he gets busy serving his family, seeking the Lord's wisdom, and talking things out with me and others he trusts.

Secondly, as my Mom has always said, whatever Joe decides to do, he will work to be the absolute best at it. In the past this meant captain of the HS basketball team, valedictorian, Corps Commander and graduating with honors. More recently it means husband, father, and employee. As far as his career goes, I consider him wildly successful. Seriously. He is still in the early stages, but his co-workers love him, he is excellent at what he does and most important of all, he loves his job. On the father front, he did an excellent thing in passing on his personality genes to Grayson. The kid is sweet, laid back, and obedient. (We won't get in to what my genes would've done to the poor baby). Joe is the apple of Grayson's eye and his best buddy. As a husband he is funny, loving and constantly making sure that my needs are met. And don't just take it from me: our previous roommate Michelle (or Hawk for those of you who read the LPM blog), says that as soon as she gets engaged she will be sending her fiance to live-in with us for husband training with Joe. All of this to say, that in taking care of his family he works EXTRA hard. He doesn't just make sure things are checked off the list, or "good enough". He goes the extra mile to be the man God has called him to be. During a recent marriage mentoring session he told the engaged men that he doesn't consider his job done each day until Mama is happy and little boys are fast asleep. Wow.

I have to give credit where credit is due. First of all, the Lord continues to shape Joe into a man that will please Him. Clearly his parents have done a fantastic job and Grayson and I will always be indebted to them. However, there is a group of people that I have never thanked or expressed my personal belief in how important their influence was/is in his life: his maternal grandmother and aunts. Those Wootan women have set the example of hard work, leadership, how to treat people, and all out FUN. Texas summers for Joe and his cousins growing up meant adventure, laughter, good food and lots of manual labor- the perfect combination if you ask me. The boys that came out of those families are all as good as gold. So to Znobia, Charlotte, Cindy, and Zee- thank you and know that you are held in high esteem in this family.

I could go on and on with stories and examples of why Joe is always my Man of the Year, but I will cherish those for myself and leave you with some pictures.


Joe- you're my favorite and I am so lucky to be starting another year with you!