little moments like that.

During our weekend getaway in St. George, Gage and I went to the driving range to hit a bucket of balls with the men of the house: Lynn, Grandpa Cecil, Trey, and Remmy.

Lots of things in life come easily to me, but sports are not one of them. Not that golf is a sport by ANY means, but you get the picture. I'm a black sheep in the athletic Loftin family, so I was prepared to embarrass myself.

I swung my club at that golf ball nearly twenty times. Fast, slow, hard, soft, bent knees, straight knees, driver, putter, wood, iron, cursing, or praying... It didn't matter; that ball was NOT budging.

With every stroke, Gage maintained composure and kept the straightest face I've ever seen. I had no idea how he was doing it. He never laughed... Not until I looked at him like I needed someone to laugh it off with and then he'd join me. Otherwise, it was either encouraging pep-talks or glances away like he had no idea I just missed the ball for the 17th time.

After fruitlessly flailing the club around in the midst of St. George's finest, I decided to do what years of city league sports taught me I do best: sit the bench. I took a seat on the green and let Gage take a whack at it...

All buff and professional, he approached that ball like Tiger Woods (with much greater morals and loyalty, of course). He meant business. That ball -and all the stubborn attitude it was feeding me- was toast. I lounged back and prepared myself to watch my boy give that pestery little Titleist what it deserved. The little ball trembled as Gage lifted into his backswing. With his eyes glued on the ball, he let 'er rip...

He missed.

6 feet and 4 inches of solid muscle took a swift slice out of the cool spring air and -just like my twenty attempts before- that little white ball remained sure and steady. The biggest, strongest, most athletic man I know (biased opinion, maybe) mustered up all his might and performed a jaw-dropping swing-and-a-miss.

Is this for real??

With a big, mischievous grin covering his entire face, Gage looked at me and said, "It must be the ball!"

I fell in love with him all over again.

It was in that very moment that I understood exactly why God put Gage in my life.

I realized I found my better half.

I was all smiles.

Any man who'll push his ego aside and purposely make a complete fool of himself to make me feel a little bit better about sitting the bench is a man worth holding onto.

I'm never letting go.
I am the luckiest girl in the world.