LOVE is a four letter word...

This might be hormone induced or could be a result of my daily bread reading last week but I find myself feeling more loved and being very thankful for those God has put in my life.

I decided to blog about it because I want them to ALWAYS know that I am THANKFUL for them each day.

I'll blog about 3 of them each week just because writing about all of them at once will be too emotional for me :-).

My Husband J - I remember when I was in my 20s, I always wondered who I would one day marry. I wasn't interested in getting married until I was in my late 20s and all my friends were married. I was also set in my ways and always said "whomever I marry HAS to fit into my life cause I am NOT interested in changing who I am." Can I just say love changes everything! I haven't had to change who I am but neither has J. He found our "perfect pieces". I met hubby when I was 29. God's timing is ALWAYS the best and his coming into my life has truly been a gift. I know it sounds cliche` but he is the ying to my yang! We are perrrrfect together! This week, I was just so tired beyond belief. My feet were swollen and they hurt just to walk on them. J did the dishes, filled up the humidifier, cleared up the kitchen and instead of playing his video game like he normally does to decompress, he came in the room to rub my feet! I knew he was tired also because he's been working a lot this week but he put that aside and instead focused on making me more comfortable. When people ask me how I know I married "the right one", I tell them, "I know because we fit into each other's lives PERFECTLY!" Kinda like a jigsaw puzzle piece. With individual parts, it doesn't make sense but when you put us together, we make a beautiful picture.
Ironically, this picture was taken in 2009. After we got engaged :-).

My Dad - One of my favorite Nigerian dish is moin-moin. Its a a bean cake that's spiced up and is very very yummy! Last week, in preparation for my mom coming to town, my dad and mom decided to wash the beans so that they could grind it using their food processor and freeze it. My mom would then bring it with her and cook it while here.
They started washing it around 10:30pm after their work day. My mom told me that my dad stayed up until 4am the next morning washing the beans and removing every single "black eye" from the beans because he knows I don't like it. My mom asked him why he was doing that and he said "because my baby girl is having a baby." Brings tears to my eyes just thinking of it because THAT is my dad! He will walk the hottest dessert for his kids! Gosh...I love him so so much!!!

My Mom - She has called me just about everyday since I entered my 3rd trimester. My mom isn't an overly emotional person but these last few weeks, I have seen a side of her that I've never seen. She calls to check on me. She encourages me (she does this already). She tells me how much she loves me (she's always done that too). On Friday morning last week, she called me to see how I was doing. Then she said she was recalling the day I was born. Apparently, she started having frequent contractions on a Sunday while at Church. So my dad dropped her off at the hospital and went home to get her hospital bag. Figuring it'll be a while before I arrived. However, she said the labor went by rather quickly and before he got back, I was born. She prayed that my labor and delivery would be as smooth and quick as hers was with me. I love that she ALWAYS prays for me like that. She truly is a mom like no other! Love her loads!!!

Thoughts/Random Questions:
Who are the folks in your life that make you feel loved each day? How do you show them you love them back?