he loves simply

she packed us a picnic of lemon water and milk in the glass bottles that were his birthday gift. it was a coupon to redeem for a picnic, meal of our choice, date and time of our choice. and so being date night, we stopped at our mother in law's house for our basket filled with chicken salad sandwiches, brownies and milk - at Ian's request.

the sky was teasing us with passing dark clouds and so we opted for the park with a nearby pavilion. we took just one out of the basket at a time, just in case we had to pack up quickly.

after an hour of watching the clouds, and eating and talking, we decided to risk it and settled on a blanket under a strong and sprawling tree.

i wanted to capture the moment and so i brushed past ian laying on the blanket, looking back at the tree as i walked.

"you look beautiful in that skirt."

after a quiet thank you i snapped a picture, a smile behind the hands holding the phone. i walked back over to the blanket, laying next to him, smiling yet.

"i can't believe i'm so blessed to have such a beautiful wife."

noticing i was cold, he pulled the blanket up over my shoulder, simply loving me.

i turned onto my back, looking up at the huge tree, and smiled. i smiled because God knew exactly what my heart needed that night. and he softened my heart as he softened ian's, and gave us a sweet and beautiful moment of feeling so deeply the joy of being loved, by each other and by our Father.

in a nagging week that had "brain injury" running through my thoughts too many times, there was peace and a moment of rest. and tonight, after work and spending time with our little man paladin, i told ian i was tired.

"you just need to sit down and rest for awhile."

and so we will rest, as the white curtains on our patio shift in the breeze and the little birds enjoy the new food in their feeders. there's a tea pot on the stove waiting for water and a husband ready to just sit with his wifey.

thank you, always
i&l