If Tomorrow Never Comes

If you know your Garth songs you are probably singing this in your head right now. Sorry! I heard this on the radio the other day and it got me thinking, especially since my tomorrow never came with Maddy. One of the lines in the song says "If I never wake up in the morning, would she ever doubt the way I feel about her in my heart?". For most people this is a common question when someone close passes away. "Did he/she know I loved them?" "Did I say I love you today?" I can honestly say that I have no doubt that Maddy loved me and he knew I loved him fiercely.

Early on we made it a routine (I won't go so far as to say rule!) to tell each other "I love you." when we parted, either in person or on the phone. If we were together and one was leaving we also included a kiss. True confession time - there were times that this didn't happen because one of us was not happy with the other one about something. Luckily this didn't happen often. There were times I was cutting it close to be to work because I was waiting on him to wash the soap off his face so I could kiss him, or sometimes he had to wait on me to finish the bite of breakfast in my mouth so he could leave. This was something we decided was important to us. Neither of us grew up in homes where words of affection were spoken often. I knew my parents loved me, but I didn't hear it much. We didn't want that for our girls. We told them "I love you." every night when we tucked them in. I never wanted them to question how their parents felt about each other. My goal was to give them an example of how a great marriage should be. I think that's at least one thing I did right in my life.

One of the cards I found that I had given to Maddy.

Many times in my life I have felt insecure and inadequate as a wife. I would apologize to Maddy for not being the wife he deserved. He always would reassure me that I was the best. I made sure to always tell him that I appreciated the way he took care of me and the girls, how hard he worked to provide for us, and the way he loved me unconditionally. I made an effort to put my marriage above other things. I valued time with my husband above "stuff".

While cleaning out some of Maddy's things I found a couple stashes of cards, letters, and notes that I had given him over the years. There were also cards the girls had made for him. He had kept every one of them. I considered it proof that he valued the words that were written to him. Of course, I also count it as proof he was a big softie!

From the first moment I realized that Maddy was gone I felt a peace in knowing that I had never wasted an opportunity to tell him how I felt about him. He made sure I knew how he felt as well. Oh, I miss him with all my heart, but I don't have any doubts of our feelings.

If God has plans for your life that differ from yours, do the people in your life know how you feel? Do you have problems trying to express your feelings? Write them down, text them, make a video, or pray for God to give you a voice for your emotions. God is our perfect example of love. Strive to live a life following that example.

Lyrics - "If Tomorrow Never Comes"

Sometimes late at night I lie awake and watch her sleeping She's lost in peaceful dreams So I turn out the lights and lay there in the dark And the thought crosses my mind If I never wake up in the morning Would she ever doubt the way I feel About her in my heart If tomorrow never comes Will she know how much I loved her Did I try in every way to show her every day That she's my only one And if my time on earth were through And she must face this world without me Is the love I gave her in the past Gonna be enough to last If tomorrow never comes

'Cause I've lost loved ones in my life Who never knew how much I loved them Now I live with the regret That my true feelings for them never were revealed So I made a promise to myself To say each day how much she means to me And avoid that circumstance Where there's no second chance to tell her how I feel