Reason #4,879,694 why I love my husband

If you know James at all, you are probably aware of his kind, sweet nature, easy-going personality, and sense of humor. As his wife of nearly 13 years (!), and the person who hopefully knows him better than anyone, I am in awe of many other wonderful traits of his. The one that I'm focused on currently is his complete lack of selfishness and the sacrifice he continually makes to support our family. He is a giving person by nature, and is known for his servant-heart. However, the other night, I witnessed something that reminded me again how utterly devoted he is to loving us and providing for our family.

James has passionately loved helicopters for years. He has even trained us to love them, and the kids and I are so attuned to the sound of one, we can hear them before most normal people! James can identify the type by just listening to them for a second. It's amazing. He has also desired to be a flight nurse for years, and knowing his experience as a paramedic and his natural gifts, I wholeheartedly supported his decision to go back to school to become a nurse several years ago. He did very well in school, and was quickly hired afterward, to work at Children's Hospital in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. His experience there has been great, and he has enjoyed the relationship with his co-workers in the unit, as well as the opportunity to care for little and/or sick babies. His ultimate desire to work on Children's Transport Team was realized last year, when a rare, full-time position became available. Though the shift was still a 7 day on/7 day off shift, the shifts are longer (12 hours vs. 8 hours), and the pay is actually less, we decided that he would take the position, and we would see how it worked with our family's needs. It's still a night position, so he works all night and then comes home and sleeps during the day. After 8 months of this, James loves the job as much as ever, but we have really had to struggle financially, and with the fact that each work night, he leaves at 6 pm, so one week out of two, dinner, bath, and bedtime is all up to Mama. And, with 3 little people, that is hard. It's not impossible, and we have certainly survived. But, it's become more and more necessary for James to try and pick up extra shifts in the NICU, to supplement what he makes while already working 84 hours in a week. That is just crazy!!


So, we have recently come to a decision that the money isn't the only issue, but our family needs him around more, and so he will be going to go back to his position in the NICU. This was long-prayed about, but is still very sad to me. James has a great attitude about it, thankful that he had the months he did on Transport, but I'm so disappointed that he can't earn enough, and be home as much, doing the job he'd prefer. Thankfully, he does love working in the unit also, so it's not drudgery to return there, to folks he loves, and babies he is so great with.

Then, there was the incident that pushed me into a sobbing fit Monday night, and led to this post. We had enjoyed a family trip to the Zoolight Safari at the B'ham Zoo, and then dinner afterward with our dear friends/family, the Barlows. Dear James, of course, didn't get to eat, since he had to head to work. I took his dinner to him after we finished up, and he was heading out on a call right then. The kids and I have never been able to see him leave on the helicopter, and though we didn't get to go to the helipad, we observed from the parking lot below. When we heard that awesome "thwack-thwack-thwack," we just squealed and cheered! It was so amazing, and we saw him waving out of the window, as we jumped up and down, waving back. I can't describe the emotion and pride I felt as he was taking off, knowing that he LOVES that, and he's leaving it - because of us.

I'm crying right now just picturing how he lights up when he talks about the helicopter job. However, he is so thankful to just be employed, whether it's the position he'd love the most, or not. We do have so much to be thankful for, in a struggling economy, with so many folks willing to do any kind of work whatsoever. Believe me, I know that. My point here is just that my sweet husband is again demonstrating the same character and integrity he consistently has had ever since I've known him. It is a humbling, awesome thing to be loved so much.

Thank you, sweetheart. We are so thankful God gave us you. We love you more!