For Joshua

 

 Josh and I, Summer of 2007

I want to write a bit and brag about my wonderful husband...

...but I just don't know where to start!

In six months, Josh and I will have been married five years. I am so glad I knocked on Josh's door six years ago and made my declaration that he had tools... and then proceeded to ask him if he thought he could fix my pipes.

Lucky for him, the pipe to the sink in my apartment had sprung a bad leak. Lucky for me, Josh is a terrible plumber and had to come back to my house to fix the said pipe three different times.

Before this pipe problem, my interaction with Josh had been limited to an interview I administered about him being in the Air Force. (This was a project for school. I saw him walking by in the Christian Campus House one day. I stopped him and asked him if he was in the military because he looked like the kind of guy who would be into that sort of thing. He said he was and I proceeded to administer my interview.) Our next interaction was going to a missionary convention together. I sat in the front seat with him on the way there and apparently spilled some sort of food/beverage all over him (I forgot about this until he told me after we were married). Apparently, I went home and told my mom about the weird, "old" guy who had driven us... not knowing it would be my future husband. (I had forgotten this until my mom told me after we had gotten married too!) Our last meeting was when I was helping a group of people build a potato gun. We needed a tool for something and nobody had one. Somebody said, "Hey, Gerrels has a lot of tools, let's ask him." I volunteered. They told me where he lived and I knocked on his door the first time asking for a tool to build our potato gun.

It wasn't a week later I knocked on that same door and asked if he could fix my pipes. I really didn't know him from Adam. I did not remember that he was the guy I interviewed about being in the military or the guy I slopped food on on our way to a missionary convention. I just new he had some tools

I am so glad I have never been too shy to ask for a favor, because God has blessed me so incredibly, tremendously more than I could have ever hoped for by allowing me to meet and marry my Joshua.

Our first four years of marriage have not been without their ups and downs. We got married, bought a house, and moved in together. I started a new school. He started a new job. He got laid off from his job. I had to transfer schools. We lived in a camper for a few months until he started another new job; we moved to a new town, got foreclosed on our house, and got behind on a lot of our debt... all in our first year of marriage.

During our next two years of marriage Josh worked many many 12 hour days (with a 45 minute commute each way) almost seven days a week with no overtime. I graduated college with five universities on my transcript and had zero luck finding a job. We drudged through and sought medical attention for a myriad of bizarre health issues... seeing almost every specialist there is besides a geriatrics doctor. We tried desperately to get caught up on debt to no avail, and then Josh got laid off again.

So our fourth year of marriage we moved again. Josh has worked like a mad man again (this time getting paid overtime), and I can finally say that all the debt we got behind on while trying to keep our house before choosing to go through the foreclosure process is not only caught up, but completely gone!! When my student loans are gone, we will finally be able to do the Dave Ramsey, "We're debt free!!" scream! Also during this fourth year of marriage we decided to pop out our first kid, and we loved our first little boy so much that we decided to pop out another, and our little girl is expected to arrive in just over three months!

Josh works hard. He does not complain. I was so proud to learn this morning that at work last night (he is working overnight shifts for the next year.... he traded his day shifts with a guy who was wanting them who has young kids and a wife who was just diagnosed with cancer.) Anyway, I found out this morning that at work last night, Josh received a 5/5 on his annual review. At Boeing, a 5/5 is almost NEVER given. Once received, it stays on your permanent Boeing record and follows you throughout your company career. His manager said he was his favorite employee and that there are not any points that he could possibly improve on as he was already doing absolutely everything anybody could ever ask. His manager told him that he wants to see Josh as a manager... good thing too since Josh is starting his masters in management next month!

I am so proud that the people at Josh's work acknowledge him as the wonderful man I know he is. I asked Josh if he made his other coworkers mad by receiving a 5/5. He said that several of them had asked if he had gotten one because they thought he deserved one. Wow! To be praised by your managers and your co-workers! I am so proud of you, Joshua! (If you ever read this...)

Josh doesn't just get the prize at work. He gets the prize at home. Josh has always been willing to work... and has been so blessed to find work in this terrible job market. He found temporary employment when he was laid off and our savings had run out. He worked a seasonal job at Sears one year when we were tight on money around Christmas. He has worked over 600 hours of overtime this year alone so that we can someday do the Dave Ramsey debt free scream and also prepare for babies!

At home, Josh keeps our cars running so that we don't have to have any car payments. He's even rebuilt a transmission from scratch! He helps me cook, he cleans the kitchen without ever being asked. Our trash is always taken out. I never have to worry about that or even give it one thought. He keeps our cloth diapers washed and ready to use. He even CHANGES those diapers when he's at home! And I never... ever... hear the man complain.

There is only one complaint that I have about my husband... that when I stand next to him I feel so inadequate in his comparison... but I believe this is the way God wants us wives to feel about our husbands; I do respect him with everything I have. We may be joined together as one, but he is certainly my better half!

I love you, Josh!