Love me, for me...

The other week at MOTS (Mothers of Toddlers), we were discussing our husbands.  How to honor them and in that discussion our speaker was talking about not trying to make our husbands act like women.  They don't think the same way, they are designed differently and thank God!  He knew what He was doing... if you don't believe be, go watch the Harvard Sailing Team post I have.
It was a big realization for me.  It is something you know, but don't really get...and more importantly get frustrated by it.  I always wonder how, why or what my husband is doing sometimes.  I tell him how to drive, I get frustrated at the way he does things,  all those little things that you love about him, but then drive you nuts too.  That make you act, like you shouldn't act.  Then one of the wives at our table was talking about her son.  She said, with tears in her eyes, that she wants her son to be loved.   She wouldn't wish a life of a nagging, distant wife.  She would want her son to be appreciated, loved and respected.  She was pretty sure her Mother-in-Law didn't want her son to live with out love.
Sometimes it takes that perspective, to get out of your own self centeredness, to see the other side.  To realize that MY way isn't the only way...it's just my way.  That my husband wants to be loved, to be appreciated.  He wants affection and acceptance.  Don't we all?
It is one thing to strive for your best, want the best for those in your family, and it is another to change who they are.  Losing the essence of them,  squashing their spirit and in the end driving a wedge between them and you.  I am not talking just about husbands but our children and other loved ones.  Those that know me, know my struggles with Jillian.  My sweet girl who makes me cry with laughter and cry with frustration.  I want what is best for her, but am I trying to change her to fit into MY world?  My right brained, scheduled, and controlled world?  Expecting my husband to think and react like me....a girl????
I heard this song, that is playing on the blog, on the radio and the chorus really spoke to me.  Who will love me, for me??  Not for what I have done, or who I'll become.  Well this is just a few things that my husband is...

Protector and provider:

Father:

Friend:

And my sweet Jillian...

Daughter:

Dreamer:

Sister:

Fashionista:

Silly:

Trying to love them, for them..