Today marks a very special birthday — of my husband Luke! And it’s high time I give him credit here in my little virtual space.

While many, many wonderful people have influenced and shaped my writing journey over the years, there hasn’t been anyone like my personal Mr. Darcy, “my severest critic,” but also my biggest encourager.

This last year Luke’s been the one who pushed me to stick to my writing goals and urged me to assemble words even when I declared I hadn’t the foggiest idea of what to write about and would have gladly let a deadline whoosh past.

Luke can inspire me with a single phrase, and of course, our times together in the Word are the deepest investment for writing or for anything else in life.

I’ll never forget the first time he gave me feedback on my writing.

We were only dating then, and I had traveled to the Middle East and wrote up a prayer letter upon my return to recap the trip. I had finessed and formatted and run it by several excellent editors. I was more than ready to send it to the printers for better or worse.

But his was the last word of feedback I waited upon. And in our skype date, he in so many words said, “I think you can do better. It’s unclear here.” My eyes smarted. My actual job title is prayer letter coordinator … I would hope I could write a decent draft.

Visions of my favorite fictional authors pranced across my mind — but they hadn’t prepared me for this moment. Anne marching away from Gilbert after he said what he really thought about her story. Jo March withering under the disappointment of Professor Bhaer in her writing. All of them looked into the eyes of the women they loved and said, “I know this isn’t your best. This isn’t you.”

Which, in spite of the temper tantrums ensued throughout literature, are actually flattering words when you stop to consider them.

I took Luke’s advice and ended up making a better prayer letter than the one before.

And ever since then I’ve known I can trust Luke to give me his best thoughts in kindness and genuine help. When I get all antsy and want to hit submit or publish right now, I know it’s wise to wait and hear Luke’s honest review. It’s actually one of the most loving things you can do for someone to tell them the truth in how they can improve and believe that they can achieve a higher level.    

So happy birthday to dear Luke, my best editor and my best friend. I wish you all could know this man of God! He is such a gift to me and a faithful pursuer of God and His Words. I look forward to another year of being on his team and savoring Christ together.