“Wow, Mel. That’s not normal, you know.  And I mean that in the best way possible.”  my sister said as I described the gifts I received on Christmas day from my loving husband.  After we talked about her Christmas morning with her kiddos and then ours, and what everyone had received this year, she asked me what Robert gave me.

“A really pretty and simple silver ring from James Avery with my birthstone.” I replied.  “He said that red is my birthstone and it’s a Christmas color.  I just love it.”

“And he also gave me a small red journal that was full of his prayers for me in the last year,”  I continued.

“Really? From the whole year?” she asked.

“Yes.  I know.  It’s really amazing.  He gave me a list of 12 things he would be praying for me in the coming year  ~ last year.  I knew he was praying for me, of course, but I had no idea that he was writing it all down each day.”

I’m pretty sure that’s when she came out with the “not normal ~ but in a good way” quote! It made me laugh, but I know it’s true.  He is my greatest treasure and gift from the Lord.  An attentive, selfless husband can be a rare thing, unfortunately.  I am made aware of this on a consistent basis as I interact with lots of different women.  But before you start thinking that there’s a perfect wife, husband, and marriage in this house, let me quell your fantasy by telling you that just two weeks before Christmas, we had a doozy of a fight and for almost a whole week he could do no right in my eyes.  Oh, how humbled I was as I opened this gift on Christmas morning and saw that he had been praying through that entire week ~ for his transformation and mine!  No ~ no perfection here, just daily trusting the Lord for deepened friendship, intimacy, and admiration as we go.  But oh, how He honors our dependence on Him ~ and truthfully, Robert leads out in this dependence.  He always beats me to repentance and reconciliation.  My heart is much slower than his to finally come around, but how can it not when he’s already there, humbled and desiring all things to be made right between us?

There is Someone Else whose heart is always open and desiring of relationship with me ~ even when I’m angry, hurt, and confused ~ even when I’ve been the one in the wrong. (Which, in this particular case, is always.)  Robert has been the most tangible experience of Christ I believe I will ever have on this earth.  The tears that came as I opened his gift hopefully give evidence to my deep gratitude, because words are just not enough.

 My other gift was a book I’ve been wanting for a while.  I’m sure many of you have noticed  it at the top of the New York Times bestsellers and Amazon’s “Most Gifted” books of the year.  What?  It’s not there, you say?  Well, I just can’t believe it, because talk about a compelling, earth shattering biography!  And who hasn’t heard of Banner of Truth Publishers?  Surely you have all been dying to read the biography of Charles Hodge, Stephen Charnock, and Charles Spurgeon!  Banner of Truth has those books as well as other enticing titles like Repentance, Suffer, and While the Bridegroom Tarries.  Okay, so you’re not sold yet?  Well, call me a nerdy puritanical pastor’s wife and Bible scholar wannabe, but this stuff gets me all excited.  I prefer to say that I am “in earnest” (have I mentioned that I love that phrase almost as much as the word “hitherto”?) about knowing the lives of earlier saints in our country and God’s previous work in our nation ~ especially here in New England.

And maybe I’ve mentioned that one of my favorite saints is Elizabeth Prentiss ~ author of the beloved hymn More Love to Thee and many books; most notably, Stepping Heavenward.  Wouldn’t you agree that that is just a lovely painting and depiction of the delightful Elizabeth P. on the front cover of her recent biography?  Maybe you’ve already clicked over to order it based on the pleasant countenance of surrender to Christ you can see written all over her face.

Well, I read this paperback version of Stepping Heavenward at least 4 times, before Robert got me this beautiful cloth bound version from Lamplighter Publishers.  (Another “bestseller” book company in my archaic opinion.)  It is the story of a woman named Katy told through her journal from age 16 until her death.  It beautifully, and with raw authenticity chronicles the sanctification process which all believers find themselves in as they walk with the Lord in this fallen world ~ most specifically women, since it is a woman’s life and heart to which we get an insider’s view here.  I would go as far as to say that second only to the Bible, this book has greatly encouraged me in my relationship with Christ, taught me how to love Him, and exhorted me to accept the situations, “schools” Mrs. P calls them, in my life as gifts from the Savior to conform me to His image.  The Bible prescribes that lifestyle, and for me Stepping Heavenward describes it in a way that I can easily relate to ~ even though it was written in 1869!

Well, I’m more than halfway done with the biography, and I’ve been simply engrossed.  First of all, it takes place right here in Massachusetts at times, and at other times Elizabeth and her family are in Portland, Maine, New York City, and New Jersey. Harriet Beecher Stowe  (another favorite saint and author) and her father make an appearance in the book, as well as Charles Spurgeon, the Queen of England, and the author of “Jesus Loves Me.”  The Prentisses were involved in church planting here in New England and New York WAY before Mark Driscoll hit the scene (like by 150 years or so), and they even got burned out and had to take a sabbatical in Switzerland!  Elizabeth, though full of faith and devotion to Christ, struggled with depression and extreme weariness, but tried to faithfully give those struggles to the Lord. Is any of this sounding familiar? Reading about her life helps assure me that I am not abnormal in my own struggles, though they aren’t even close to the deep sorrow she experienced over losing 2 children to an early death, and numerous other loved ones.

Included in the book are excerpts from letters and journals of both she and her pastor husband, George.  I will leave you with one of those.  It is from a letter that she wrote to George, not long after they were married, and it also expresses what I’m feeling for my own husband these days ~ and have since we married. Not every day, of course, (obviously. see above.) but definitely as an overarching feeling for our entire marriage…

How I do love you! It already seems to me that you have been gone a week, and how will it seem tomorrow, I wonder?  My heart has been full of thankfulness as it could hold ever since you went away.  Oh, how much better I love you than I did before you were my husband; how infinitely more I admire and respect and esteem you!…Ever since our marriage, I have half wished you would go away that I might write and tell you as I never can when with you, how every hour and every moment I am running over with love.

 It seems that I end a lot of posts about Robert by saying that I am blessed.  Well, surely you can understand even better now, because it’s true.  I am blessed.  His Christmas gifts are wonderful ~ his gifts of unconditional acceptance and grace are life-changing.