As I was deciding what to write today I came across some old freewrites that I’d scribbled in my notebook. I was especially interested to see three entries from three separate occasions when I’d felt so completely in love with my husband that I was compelled to write down a brief prayer for him. Although they were all written many months apart, all of these prayers echoed similar themes of thanksgiving and love for this wonderful man and God who gave him to me. Upon closer inspection, each individual prayer was just a more complete iteration of the last. 

This is yet another example of how God’s plan is so much better than ours. When I came to the faith, I wasn’t looking for God at all. I was actually searching for the perfect husband, on a quest to avoid past relationship mistakes at all costs and instead find a good man who would truly love me just as I loved him. Little did I know that God was making His own arrangements in my life for that very thing. The hour that I entered the Catholic Church through baptism, confirmation and first eucharist was the hour in which my husband beheld me for the very first time. Here is my prayer for that man who, by the grace of God, witnessed the very first moments of my Catholic infancy and has been loving me ever since. 

Dating Edition

Lord, please watch over him today. Keep him healthy, happy and safe. Thank you for sending him to me. Please help us to find the right words to allow this conversation to continue and to bring each other every day closer to you. Please also help me to recognize your work in my life as I do with him. Amen!

Engaged Edition

Lord, thank you for sending him to me! Thank you for answering my prayers and introducing me to a kind, capable, Catholic, handsome gentleman. He is my miracle. Whenever I catch myself doubting your presence or your power I need to look no further than the man who loves me with all his heart and proves it everyday. 

First Anniversary Edition

Lord, thank you for this first beautiful year of marriage and all the lessons that have come with it. Thank you for sending me a kind, Catholic, soldier man who constantly shows me how to do what’s right over what’s easy and who adores me even on those days when I am deeply unlikable. Please continue to strengthen, guide and protect him in all of his endeavors and teach me to follow his example and be just as wholly and tirelessly dedicated to doing your will. Amen!