Admiration

This week's assignment in the Completing Him Challenge is to list things you admire about your husband. Patrick is such an amazing man that this is not hard at all :).

1. Patrick is one of the hardest working men I know. I can count on 1 hand the number of times he's called in sick, and they are always because I make him. He is so devoted that he has actually thrown up at work numerous times and not come home. He never leaves the job undone, shorthanded, or without giving it 100% all of the time.

2. Patrick is loyal to a fault. Patrick will stand up for you, protect you and stand by your side no matter what once you have entered his circle of friends. He never loses contact with people no matter how far away or how long it's been since they've seen each other. He is even loyal to jobs and bosses. When he was being mistreated at his former job, he stayed loyal to the company and his boss. He gave his very best up until his last second there.

3. He is teachable. I am a stubborn and often very proud woman. I take criticism, even constructive criticism, hard and shut off when offended. Patrick listens to those he respects when they criticize, point out something or call him out. He does not get angry or bitter, but instead seeks help to remedy the situation. When he was struggling for a good, godly male role model he sought them out and went to them for advice, and then really applied it. If Patrick respects you, he listens and he truly learns in a way I have never seen before.

4. He loves the unlovable. I would be a prime example of this on many a day. He often comes home to an exhausted and annoyed wife, but he still looks forward to seeing me. He also seeks out the kids that most people have written off. When he worked in the youth group he was in charge of the kids that no one else wanted. He was able to speak into their lives and see real change that no one else thought was possible. They respected him and loved him because they knew that he saw them for who they really were and not their list of failures.

5. Patrick is so smart. He does math in his head so fast, remembers everything and can figure things out with little help. He is always correcting my poor memory. He is very logical and see things in black and white so much better than I can.

6. He is generous. Patrick loves to have people in our home - to feed them, keep them here and give them the very best of our time, love and stuff. He is the first one to contribute to people asking for money for missions or other ministries. But, he is not foolish and does not squander money on things he does not believe in.

7. He is unashamedly himself. He does not apologize for who he is. He does not let others determine what he likes or does. He often has liked things that others find obscure, but rather than hiding it or losing interest at the mocking of others, he merely proudly displays his preference. In the end, the people that tease him are often swayed to his side.

8. He is a wonderful father. He loves our babies with all he has and is excited to see them every day. Every night before they go to bed he makes sure to tell each of them how much he loves them, how proud he is of them, how talented they are, and all of things he admires in each of them. It is such a gift to watch him love on them, play with them and be the amazing father I knew he would be.

9. He is a fantastic husband. Patrick has done the most thoughtful things for me, takes care of me so well and is always striving to love me more. He will never give up on us or quit on me. He works so hard to provide for us and never complains about the long hours, the lack of respect, all the pressure or the little pay. He gives it his all every single day. He always wants to spoil me and the kids, and truly we are spoiled with all that he does for us and the way that he loves us. He allowed me to stay home without any complaints when we had no children, when we had little to no income and when everyone else told him he was nuts to have a wife not working. Though he had never seen a woman stay home successfully, he trusted me to do it. He trusts me with the money, our kids, our home and his heart every day and never makes demands. I could go on and on, but he is simply the best husband around.

10. He is a godly man. Patrick is so willing to go anywhere and do anything for Jesus. He is sold out, and follows even when he doesn't understand. I am so proud of his heart and the way that he seeks to always be pointing people to Jesus.

This is just a small list of the wonderful qualities that Patrick possesses. If you don't know him, I suggest you get to know him for your own benefit. He is truly wonderful. I love you honey!

To Have and to Hold

Sorry, this post is later than I had planned. I had a hard time uploading photos of our wedding day. Anyway, I thought that I would share our engagement story and then some photos. Patrick and I had been dating about a year and half and I knew that the proposal was imminent. On Friday, I had lunch with my dear friend Ruth Henderson at work and she asked me what my dream proposal would look like. I told her I wanted it to be just Patrick and I (as we were never alone), that it would be simple and that he would get down on 1 knee and tell me loved me and ask me to marry him. Patrick and I had vowed not to say I love you until we were engaged and it would be the first time either one of us had said that to anyone (in that way :). The next day, on Saturday, March 11th, Patrick came over to my house. It was a rainy day and we were trying to decide what to do. My parents had gone to Texas to visit my sister and my younger sister Alyssa and I were home together. Alyssa was on the phone upstairs as Patrick and I sat on the couch trying to decide where we should go. He was acting strange - nervous and I could feel his heart pounding from where I was sitting. He told me he had an 11th gift for me in his pocket. He got me a little or big something on the 11th of every month to celebrate the day we started dating. I asked him what it was and he pulled out a box. I got very excited, and then said, "that better not be earrings." He joked back and said, "it better be what you think it is." He handed me the box, and as I opened it he got down on both of his knees and told me that he loved me and wanted to spend the rest of his life with me and asked me to marry him. I said yes and asked him to repeat the I love you over and over again. We kissed and I ran up to show Alyssa. Then we called everybody we knew. I found out later that he had asked my dad several weeks before for permission, and he had had the ring for some time, trying to figure out the the perfect way to ask me. He was going to do something big and flashy and worried that I would be disappointed at his simple proposal. Little did he know that it was the way I dreamed of.

6 months later, on September 9, 2006, I became Mrs. Patrick Murphy. We married at the Anaheim Golf Course on a perfectly beautiful day. I had my sisters and good friend stand beside me, along with my family and closest friends. It was a wonderful day followed by a fantastic honeymoon in Costa Rica. It was the beginning of a fabulous adventure together. The vows we said that day I said with all of my heart, and I am still trying to live them out. Though I believe them and try to live them, they are difficult. To honor someone 24 hours a day? That's not as easy as it sounds on your wedding day. It's hard to cherish someone when you've got 2 screaming babies, a barking dog and you are both exhausted. Yet this is what I promised to do. This is the covenant I entered with Patrick and with God. So I have to do my best each day. I admit I have failed greatly many, many days. But I pray that we both learn to love one another better each day as we grow together. As Patrick says, almost 4 years married - all the rest to go!

In the Beginning...

Well... this wonderful journey of the Murphy 4 all began 6 years ago, on July 11th, 2004. A year prior, Patrick and I had met at the Vineyard Anaheim VBS - he was a helper with the 5th - 6th graders that I was in charge of. For a year we remained simply friends - I dated someone else and he moved back to Colorado for school. When he moved, I wasn't sure that we would ever see each other again, but God had a different plan. Around March Patrick randomly texted me, and it happened to be the same week that I had broken up with my boyfriend. We began a casual correspondence that was nothing more than friends. Then, Patrick returned from Colorado on Memorial Day weekend and we saw each other for the first time at the church's Memorial Day picnic. We started spending some time together - we met for a movie, he texted me A LOT, he even came over and spent time with my family. After a few weeks of his pursuit, and me seeing his amazing heart, it finally happened. After night church on July 11th, I manuevered my way into getting him to take me home. We sat in the church parking lot in his white Jeep for hours talking and ended up kissing. That was it! We were a couple. 2 weeks later I left for a missions trip to Thailand and he gave me a bag full of thoughtful gifts for my trip, including a questionnaire for me to fill out so he could get to know me better while I was gone. He went out of his way to spend time with me as much as possible, even though he worked 12 hour days at 24 hour fitness, taught tennis on his day off and volunteered with the youth at church. He amazed me at the way he made me a priority. He spoiled me with gifts to celebrate every month we were together. We were able to go through a lot together as we dated - a mission trip together to Thailand, meeting each other's family's and a lot of church events. We discussed marriage from the very beginning. Neither one of us believed in casual dating, and we talked about the hard stuff right off the bat. I was so impressed with his heart. He loved the unlovable - he was always taking care of the hard kids at church and inviting people to church from work. He was so teachable - something I am severely lacking - as he found men he respected and sought their advice, and actually applied it. He was so thoughtful and loving to me, and spent a lot of time getting to know my family. He had such a heart for the Lord and was always seeking His will, serving Him and others and was so willing to go anywhere at anytime for God. I still love his heart the most. He is smart, handsome, kind, a hard worker, loyal, honest, has the most amazing smile, the sweetest laugh, is the most wonderful dad and husband I have ever seen, but it's his heart that still makes mine skip a beat the most. Before we got together, I had been heartbroken over the last relationship I was in and I was scared to give my heart away. I told God that He would hold my heart, and that He would have to give it the the man He chose for me. When we had been together a few months I was praying and I felt God tell me that He had given my heart to Patrick, and that I could trust him with it. He's had it ever since. I could go on and on with stories of us dating and what an amazing boyfriend he was, but I will spare you. I think the best part of our dating relationship was how fearless we were. We were so ready to go anywhere and do anything as a couple. We were willing to move and be uncomfortable, and I think that it something that we have lost a little since. But, maybe we can regain that? We'll see. Stay tuned, our love story continues next week!