Who Is In Your Fave 5?

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

Phillipians 4:8 is the passage we are focusing on this week as we evaluate our thoughts when looking at how we can live a life under God's control.

Lovely and admirable, as I sat and pondered on those two words this morning what continued to come to my mind over and over was my husband, Milo.

Loveliness usually brings to mind beauty. Websters defines lovely as having those qualities that inspire love or affection, morally or spiritually attractive. Admirable means inspiring or deserving of esteem. Two weeks ago I wrote a blog on 'What Goes In, Must Come Out' and asked the question, 'Who are the top 5 people you spend the most time with?' I believe there is a cell phone commercial that ask, 'Who is in your fave 5?'

One person that is in my fave 5 would be Milo. Next week we will be celebrating our 18 year anniversary. We began dating right after I graduated from high school. He was going into his senior year and I was off to the University of Iowa. We grew up together in a small town in NW Iowa and our graduating classes ranged from 22 - 28. We were both actively involved in sports and music, however never really noticed each other until a few months before graduation. In May of 1987, I started receiving 'secret admire' notes in my locker. I was dating a young man 2 years my senior, so I blew the notes off as a prank being pulled by one of my classmates. Milo finally came clean at a year end school banquet, so I politely humored his 'puppy love' and thought one date would be harmless in exchange for his obvious admiration. After methodically plotting out our 'friendship' date in a town 30 miles north of small town Iowa, we ventured in his newly clean and polished Grandma's Buick to see 'Nightmare on Elm Street 3'. And well, the rest is history. My boyfriend came back from ISU only to have his heart broken and Milo and I have been together ever since. That first date would actually have been 21 years ago this month.

Milo and I have really grown up together. We got married in June of 1990 and lived in Decorah, Iowa in a small married student housing apartment while we completed our last 2 years of college. Our careers in nursing and teaching led us to Hokah, MN where we rented a small two bedroom apartment right on the main street of the 800 person town. Two years later we moved 10 miles east to Houston, MN and purchased our first 'starter' home. The summer of 1995, I was 7 months pregnant and we completely gutted our home except for two rooms. We finished our remodel and even added a 2 stall garage just a month before Kennedy Christine arrived.

1998 brought career changes for both of us as Milo moved into the insurance business and I became a Mary Kay Consultant. December of 1998, Madison Mary joined her sister and we moved to Cedar Rapids, Iowa for Milo to accept a position with Aegon.

As I reflect on those last 18 years, we have had the normal ups and downs of any marriage. We have struggled with the addition of children and the changes in dynamics in our relationship. We have muddled through poor financial decisions. Between the two of us, we have had 8 major surgeries. We have moved 5 times and been through marital counseling 3 times. We have had those hard discussions into the early morning hours wondering if we should really stay together or would it be easier to get divorced. We have gone for months being emotionally and physically distant from one another. We have grown spiritually at different times.

But in the last 18 years, we have collected pop cans just to go to the movie. We have witness the miraculous birth of our two daughters. We rode in a horse driven cart up the side of a mountain in Ireland in the pouring rain laughing so hard our stomachs hurt. We have connected on such a deep emotional level that we can usually say what the other one is thinking. Just a month ago, we made a bon fire and camped together in our back yard. We recently became a 'biker couple'. The traits that used to drive us crazy about each other, we now graciously accept with love. He has become more tidy and I have become more relaxed. We both love Jesus with our whole heart and welcome Him as the cord that makes the three strands in our marriage not easily broken.

We now see each other for the individuals that we are and we can't imagine not growing old together. Milo has a spirit of graciousness and sweetness that comes from deep inside and can't help but shine through to others. I see the power of God in him because he has lived through times of difficulty and is strengthened by God's grace and love. He lives a life worthy of admiration and respect. He is an incredible father, friend, and husband. I would travel to the ends of the earth to be with him, even if it meant living in a van down by the river. He is a man of integrity, unending love, and humor. He hopes to leave this world knowing that he made others feel good about themselves. He is forth right, honest, and gifted in wisdom and mercy. He is a man after God's heart. I love him with every ounce of my heart and because of our faith in Christ I know that we will spend eternity together. When I ponder on lovely and admirable today, Milo Robert Japenga is the first to come to mind.

Blessings,

Jill