Mr. Goodbar Award

During my first year at MOPS, there was a little activity at the beginning of the meeting for different women to share a reason why her husband was deserving of the Mr. Goodbar Award. It was often awarded for thoughtful little acts like cleaning the house unexpectedly or doing unsolicited extra kid duty. Derek "won" the award one time while he was at AIT and I actually mailed it to him. 

source: www.hersey.com

It was a fun opening to our meeting; a time to brag about our great hubbys. But more than just that, it's an exercise to remind us our important duty as Godly wives to exhort and encourage our husbands-- To look deeper to notice all of the small things they do for our families and to praise them for that. The Mr. Goodbar portion of our meeting may only last 5-10 minutes, but the impact can last all day {or even years. We he haven't done a Mr. Goodbar award for almost two years and here I am still thinking about it!}. 

Over the past couple of weeks, a thought similar to this has repeatedly crossed my mind: "I am so lucky to have such a great hubby!", "The kids are so lucky to have such a great dad!". But the more I got to thinking about it, I knew it wasn't luck at all! We are BLESSED with a great hubby and daddy, but the fact is-- is that I chose him!** And I did so because I knew he was a Godly man who would love and support me and our family. He's always been a Mr. Goodbar! :)

**side note: I certainly don't want to make this about how awesome I am for choosing a great husband, but I just wanted to put this out there for those who may read this who aren't married {and for Belle to read when she gets older. And for Jackson, too, for that matter!}. Finding a great husband isn't about being "lucky" at all. It's about loving and trusting God and then finding a man who does the same. When it comes to relationships, there is more than just having a date for prom or simply being lonely because your other friends have plans for Valentine's Day. It doesn't matter if he's as handsome as Zac Efron, as famous as Justin Bieber, or as rich as Mark Zuckerberg-- if he's not going to be a good husband and excellent father, he's not worth dating and he's certainly not worth marrying. And even if you ever convince yourself that it's okay to "settle" for less standards for yourself, then think about if you want your children to have to "settle" for a less than stellar dad.

Anyway, back to the point. I've just been noticing lately how blessed we really are to have Derek in our family! It probably has less to do with him doing anything different than it does with me having an attitude adjustment. Here's a few reasons Derek deserves the Mr. Goodbar award as of late:

• He tells me often that I am a good mom, whether it be when I'm taking far too long to make the kids lunches look fun or when it's after a long day of discipline. Those words are so great to hear.
• He has been my biggest supporter of me starting my internship and finishing school. Even though it is COSTING us (a lot of) money to do so. 
• He always says, "thanks for cooking dinner" at the table each night and makes sure that Jackson does the same. So even if we eat when Derek isn't around, Jackson always tells me thank you. 

He reads books to the kiddos

 Dresses up like Batman

Tirelessly plays with the kiddos even after a long day at work!

And he involves the kids in his hobbies- like playing drums at church!

Plus, he gets bonus points just for being handsome. :)

I hope to get around to posting more Mr. Goodbar posts in the future, kind of like I do with updates of the kiddos! In the mean time, I want to hear YOUR Mr. Goodbar stories. I would love to make a post about stories from your families about why your hubby is Mr. Goodbar. It can be something you love about him or it can be a specific thing he has done! You can make a blog post and share your link or you can just leave a comment! Make sure you leave your blog address if you have one, so I can link back to you! 

I think it will be a super fun way to encourage our hubbys! Be sure to actually tell him that you notice all of the big and small things he does for you and your family too! I will randomly select one winner to actually mail a Mr. Goodbar for you to award your hubby with! :)