Every November, I take some time to think about, write about, and brag on my husband. He celebrates his birthday and we celebrate our anniversary this month, so it seems appropriate to pay homage to the man who agreed to spend the rest of his life with me.

If you’re new to my blog and haven’t yet met my husband, you can learn more about him on his website, www.yooperstewart.com. I started it several years ago as a way to share some of our favorite experiences with the world. It’s the perfect place to tell stories, but I save the sweetest stories for my annual November tribute.

That would be today.

Matt, a.k.a. Yooper Stewart, is everything you could hope for in a God-loving, Lego-building, sports-averse mountain man. He’s a hard worker. He takes pride in providing for his family. He puts up with my zaniness (and has even started participating in some of my hijinks). He lets me watch football with minimal complaining, eats whatever I cook for dinner (even if it’s bad), and drives the small, cruise-control-less car (even though he’s taller than me and barely fits into the driver’s seat).

I’m always telling Matt how lucky he is to have me, but the truth is that I’m the lucky one. Matt has blessed me in more ways than I can count or could have possibly imagined possible.

When I met and married Matt, I still believed in the contemporary understanding of marriage: that we were in it to make each other happy. And then I bought into the American philosophy of happy wife, happy life, as if the marriage was really about making sure I had everything I wanted and needed.

Thank the Lord we were both more committed to God than we were to conventional wisdom.

Even though Matt and I didn’t completely agree on what a marriage should look like, we did agree on one thing: no matter what, God’s way is the best way.

During our worst moments, we got Godly counsel. We prayed for ourselves. We prayed for each other. Regardless of how we felt, we had committed to following God’s word and principles in our marriage, so we sought out and studied those, believing in them even when they didn’t make sense.

There’s no doubt in my mind that a lesser man would have left me years ago, but not Matt. He kept his promise to me and to God, and I’m a better person for it.

Happy birthday, honey! I love you more today than I ever thought I could. You’re my favorite.