A Poem for 6 Years With You

Dear Benjamin, This is for you.

Who would have guessed, six years ago, that we'd be here?
Together, closer than before, and with more of our sin scrubbed off.
It leaves the skin raw sometimes, the exfoliating strength
Of life together.

I still love snuggling next to you on the sofa,
Draping my legs over yours like an ottoman.
You support me. You brace me. You hold me up.

Laptop by laptop, we share an evening.
Emails, reading reviews, a load of laundry keep us company.
Blocks strewn across the floor, cheese caked onto forks in the sink,
The dryer door hangs open from digging for a sleeper.

Two little people snooze in two little cribs. Arms flung wide,
Embracing sleep, mouths agape. And I marvel,
Are these sweet little boys really ours?
Precious round fingers, chubby arms,
Rosy lips, silky soft skin.

And then first one, then the other
Wake and cry
For a back rub, a potty break, an ear ache,
A kleenex, a meal, a bad dream.

Each day, each year, God carves
Through sleepless nights, conflicts, stomach flu,
Homework and meetings, your quirks and mine,
Our disfunctions and our strengths.
Six years of memories, splinters and curls, 
And slowly we find that our edges are softer,
Our arms twined tighter,
And the image of Jesus with His bride,
Maybe clearer now.

I love you.