Picture of Kindness

Tim is the most kind person I know. Why am I saying this?  It's because I took this picture as he was passing by and it turned out beautifully!  It reminds me of how kind he is to me. That is who he is all the time but this picture reflects that.  What a favored woman I am to have him. (Thank God!) Even after twenty five years, I still wonder how I got so blessed. 

He is very aware of what I think.  As I often tell him, "You are very nice to me... (long pause) except when you're not very nice to me."  This phrase is safe and useful because it covers not only the beautiful moments but even those those uncommon times when (you know) husband and wife forget that they are husband and wife and they act like enemies. It makes him laugh when I say it to him because I speak in a staggered fashion so that he gets a few seconds to savor the first part of the statement and then he's brought back down to earth with the second part.  Now whenever I complement him, he holds his breath and waits to see if my sentence has ended or not.  It has become a joke between us.  In fact he has used the same complement including the leveling second part on me. :)

It is so unconventional that Jesus would use the relationship of a husband and wife to describe His love for the church.  But the more I spend time with Tim the more I understand my position in Christ. I know how much my husband loves me, everything around the house reminds me of that - the coffee maker, our bed, the couch, the table we eat our meals at, the stove where we both prepare food and many more.  They are there as reminders of that kindness that he is to me.  And even then, as we get older the more consciously I consider his thoughts before I do a certain thing.  I would have thought that it is the other way around.  But knowing my husband more makes me more aware of what works to experience joy and peace.

The question then is, if Tim was to take a picture of me what would he see?  If God was to take a snap shot of my life, what would that picture show?  

Pictures speak louder than words, so they say.