blessed with brothers....

I think I've been really lucky. God didnt give my parents boys instead they had two girls...leaving my sister and I without brothers. Lots of people seem to without brothers realitively well...but I've been lucky, I was given brothers in other ways.
First off, I have two really great cousins, Joel and Ryan, who have taken on the position for years...I learned tons from them...and, even now, I absolutely LOVE to give Ryan girl advice ;-) ( not that I am very good at it!)...they have both given me great personal insight into the minds of boys-often in very funny ways...

In later years I was given a brother-in-law which was also great fun...and I also gained HIS brothers too...which has brought added blessing as well. A week or so ago, I got to do a very sisterly thing with Thomas, one of those extra brothers.
I went engagment ring shopping...
I dont think it really hit me, what amazingly special thing it was, until he was standing there pouring over two diamonds trying to decide which one was better....here was a guy who had taken a crash course on engagment rings in the past few weeks and by this point in time he knew FAR more than my sister and I on the finer points of jewlry and diamonds. In fact, I am pretty sure I was useless when it came to advice-but I was glad he let me be a part of that last decision moment-

So, I was standing there looking at him and I realized I was getting to see the "guy" perspective of engagment. As a girl, if I'm lucky, one day I'll get to see the end result of this preparation time...but, I dont know if I will have thought about what went into it.
In this day in age where feminists are on constant rampage to get more "power" and be considered more and more "equal" with our male counterparts....its easy to forget the place of the husband and the real JOY there is in their leadership.
( I am personally looking forward to "submitting"...but thats another story)

As I watched Thomas pouring over those rings I realized it was just the beginning in decisions that he will have to make, decisions where he puts Katie's wellbeing and happiness above his own.-one of the many SIDES to marriage...as a girl I have always focused on the wife's place in the whole partnership, and as a Christian seeing the importance of having God be the guide in our side of that partnership-but, OH, how important for the husband to seek God in all things! ( I could SO get all "preach-y" here about the importance of marrying someone who loves God more than they love you...but I know you've all heard me rant about that before)

But, here I was getting a visual lesson of the Husband's role....
It was really a beautiful moment and I am SO excited for both of them as they enter into this new Beginning.
Oh, the joy of a marriage where God has blessed both parts with His love and help!!
Congrats to Thomas and Katie...may the Lord bless them with His wisdom in all that they face together!