Tucked In

Most of the time these days, I go to bed before my husband.  I can fall asleep with all the lights on, underneath a pile of clothes on my bed, with books and cell phone arrayed around me.  This doesn't bother me at all and never has.

Sometimes I sleep right through my husband coming to bed, and sometimes I wake up.  But the best times are the times that I waver between dreams and wakefulness . . . because those are the times I get to spy a little on his unwatched heart.

He will pick up my cell phone and books and put them on the bedside table.  He (sometimes) will move the clothes, depending on my particular arrangement. Then he will pull a blanket up to my chin and kiss me goodnight.

And I get to go back to sleep, all tucked in with love.

Valued Beyond Measure

On a weekend visit home from college, I turned onto our little dirt driveway from the main road.  It had been a long drive, a long day, a long year.

And then I saw it.

Along the cow pasture fence that led up to our house, yellow flagging tape was draped purposefully, in celebratory fashion.  Our driveway is a quarter of a mile long, and the flagging tape welcomed me all the way home.  At the end, I found my dad hastily tying off the last of it.  He had a goofy smile on his face, sweat popping up on his forehead underneath his hat from his hurried display of love.  

He had a million other things to do, but this bold act of extravagance wasn't lost on me.  Did I mention that yellow is my favorite color?

I am so thankful for a father who would never hesitate to break the alabaster vase for me.