Nathan's Gift to Me for My 30th

For the last couple of months, Nathan has dropped this sentence into the silence at random times: "I know something you don't know."

Every time he did it, I think he hoped that I would say, "What it is it? It it about my birthday? Tell me! If you love me, you'll tell me right now! PLEASE!!!"

But I didn't. 

I would just keep on doing what I was doing and casually say, "Cool." 

I know that irked him, but I also knew he wouldn't tell me what it was, so it would be a waste of my time to try to pry it out of him. Well, as my birthday crept closer, he would say things to try to ruffle my feathers.

"Wait! Your birthday isn't today, it it? No? Oh, good. Then I have some time to think of something. What time does Boots close?" Boots is a combination between a drug store and the cosmetics counter at a department store. It's where we got our marriage saving hot water bottle.

On my actual birthday, I heard him ripping up newspaper up in his study loft, and I knew he was wrapping my birthday gift. He's not one for presentation. That's for sure.

Here it is. The card is actually half of a post-it note. Classic Nathan.

It was really tiny. Hmmm... What could it be?

I first opened an iPod shuffle. My brows furrowed. I wasn't disappointed. I was just confused. I had never once mentioned wanting one, although...

Side story: I bought an iPod nano when we were engaged for the purpose of putting songs on it to dance to at our wedding reception. It was the "DJ," so to speak, and I wanted to have memories of our wedding as well as all of the people who requested the songs on their RSVP cards. Well, Nathan took over our iPod nano when we got married and accidentally erased all of the music. That was not a good day for us. However, he got over it pretty quickly and replaced all of the tunes with sermons and lectures. Again, classic Nathan.

So, I just looked at him with a confused look and said, "Thanks, love..."

He smiled and replied, "That's not just any ol' iPod shuffle. Here. Read this."

I opened up the accompanying note, and this is what it read:

To my beloved Nicole,

Thirty years ago today you were born. Happy birthday, sweetie - I love you so much! There are two great reasons I am glad that you were born. The first is that this world is truly a better place with you here. You add so much to the lives of many people - you have the ability to make people laugh, to educate, to comfort, to encourage, to feel "at home"; you bring out the best in people. Although the Lord needs neither you nor me to accomplish His purposes on a human level, you are a great evidence that Christ loves the church because He has put you here to represent His love to the world. You make God appear glorious.

The second reason I am glad you were born is because of what your life means to me. You make me a better man, Nicole. You add so much to my life. I simply don't know what I would do, or who I would be, without you. Thankfully, I don't have to think about that for now. :) Our hunch that we would be better together than separate in this life has proven wonderfully true! You are my biggest encourager, supporter, fan, help, chicken [Editor's note: our (now that I think about it) very strange pet name for one another], and above all - my best friend. I love you now and I will love you forever! 

Now, your birthday gift needs a bit of explanation, because it's not completely obvious... You see, you're not getting just a plain iPod shuffle - or an empty one anyway. As you know, there are two great things that I love in this life: you, and Scripture (and the Lord - three!), so I thought to myself: How can I love Nicole with her 30th birthday gift and express my love for these two things? Then I realized, why not spend 30 days meditating on my love for her and on my favorite Scriptures? Boom! So there you have it. Think of your gift as something like a second installment of the blue books - an audible blue book! 

[Editor's note: "the blue books" are spiral notebooks with blue covers filled with notes that Nathan wrote as we were dating and engaged long distance. While we chatted on the phone for hours, he would take notes as to not forget what we had talked about. He knew he had a horrible memory, but I didn't know that until after we got married. :) I LOVE those blue books, as they are virtually a script of our entire before-marriage relationship.] 

This iPod contains 30 meditations on my 30 favorite Scriptures, 30 things I love about you, and 30 favorite memories from our relationship. I hope you love it. Happy birthday, Nicole - I love your face.*

Your husband,

Meowy [Editor's note: yet another strange pet name for one another]

*Confession: I meant to write "I love you," but instead wrote "I love your." I didn't want yet another squiggle mark on the paper - so I tried to complete the sentence as it stood. I hope it flows.

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Needless to say, I loved it! We left for our church retreat right after I opened my gift, and I basically listened to the whole thing for our two and half hour car ride. It was AWESOME! My husband is thoughtful, creative, and oh, so romantic. Classic Nathan.

But I think you already knew that.