The Respect Dare, Day 23 – My Knight in Shining Armor!

Yikes!

I am going to be totally honest  and tell you that this is one thing I really messed up!  It’s kind of embarrassing.  But – we’re all friends here, right?

So, I got to dare 23 in The Respect Dare.  The dare encouraged wives to give something tangible to our husbands to show our respect and admiration and show that we appreciate his protection and manhood.  There were ideas like giving a medal, a sword or a knight in armor figurine.

I LOVED this idea!  Then I started trying to find a knight in shining armor – and you know what?  You can’t just waltz into K-Mart or Wal-Mart and find one of these things!  So, I began to look online to find just the right knight to show my husband how much I appreciate him and how he is MY HERO.  It actually took me almost 11 months to actually finish this dare and find the right gift for my husband.

DID I EVER TELL YOU THAT GIFT-GIVING IS NOT MY TALENT?

Well – gift giving has NEVER been my talent.  It is not my love language, I guess.  I don’t particularly “need” gifts – and I am  pretty awful at giving gifts. 🙁  I never feel like I can find the right thing and it often stresses me out trying to find the right thing – especially for people who truthfully don’t “need” anything.   In fact, I turned the gift giving over to my husband a few years ago for birthdays and Christmas for our children and our family.  He IS very good at giving gifts and finding the right thing for just about anyone.  I so admire that about him!

I decided to get my husband a pewter knight as a symbol of how I see him as my knight in shining armor.

It looked perfect!

Unfortunately – I didn’t pay attention to the dimensions.

THE PACKAGE ARRIVED

I gave my husband the package from the online place where I bought his figurine and was a bit surprised that it was just a padded envelope that it came in.

Hmmm…. that didn’t seem right.

My husband emptied the contents of the envelop into his hand.

And then he BURST OUT LAUGHING HYSTERICALLY.

Here is part of something my husband wrote about my gift to him  (Ladies, your dare is at the bottom after his post):

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Father’s Day was a few weeks ago, and while we don’t go crazy getting each other gifts for the card holidays, my wife decided to break tradition a little bit and buy me something really special. You can see it in the picture I took above. I was totally blown away that she would make a purchasing decision this great without even consulting me. I think she did quite well, though. Look at the craftsmanship on this thing. Look at how every detail was carefully considered and incorporated. Only the finest materials were used to construct this thing. In that first picture I might be a little too far out for you to appreciate it. Let me move in a little closer so you can fully grasp my prized gift.

I knew you would be able to start to see why I am so excited at this distance. The viewing angle on this thing is almost infinite. No matter how you look at it, from the sides, below, or above there is virtually no loss of detail. You might think I am crazy, but I want you to see it a little closer. I don’t want you to miss any details. Let’s move in a little closer.

Wait a second, I see, you thought I was talking about the TV. Can you see the fine craftsmanship? The incredible detail? Can you see the use of the finest materials now?

What? You think it is a bit small. It is not that small. Let me put it next to something for you to get some perspective.

How about next to a Lego Knight minifigure? The Lego Knight isn’t armed but is still a fair bit bigger than the knight.


A tube of chapstick? I guess the knight could try using a bomb on the balm to try to take out his superior foe.

A shaving razor? No competition really and the razor is powered at that.


Fingernail clippers? Yep, the knight needs to stay far away for fear of losing a limb or a head.


A Band-Aid? On the bright side it would only take one to mend up all the knight’s battle wounds and it could probably be double wrapped.


Finally, a toilet roll? This is probably the most useful comparison because the knight could easily hide within the hollow cavity.

So, I can see you are not nearly as excited about my Father’s Day gift as I am. Truth be told, my wife purchased the knight online and didn’t pay particular attention to how tall the knight was. She just saw the picture of the knight (below) and thought, “I want my husband to know that this is how I think of him. He is my knight in shining armor!”

The package arrived at our doorstep on a Friday. On Father’s Day morning, she opened the package to give it to me and realized that the knight stood a whopping 1.75 inches tall. It didn’t bother me at all that it was so small and it was kind of amusing for us just how diminutive it actually was. (From Peacefulwife – we and our children all laughed until we were crying when we compared this little knight to each of these objects and thought of other things to stand him beside so we could really portray just how tiny it was as my husband took pictures.)

I understand what my wife wanted to do by getting me the knight for Father’s Day. She wanted me to know that she looked at me as that knight in shining armor in her life. That she appreciated what I do and what I am about. That she gets me. She wants me to lead our family and trusts me to this position. She wants me to be my best. She wants me to protect our family from all sources of evil.

In For Men Only, Jeff Feldhahn asked the women they surveyed for their book, “What is one thing that you would like for your husband to know?” As they began to go through the responses to this question, they were blown away that the number one thing that women wished their man knew was, “You are my hero.” The surprise was that despite how lousy we are at being our best for our wife we really are their life. They admire us, need us, appreciate us, want us to be happy, and are truly grateful for us. They respect us. The survey found that while your wife may not always express it well to you, almost every woman said that they “deeply need, respect, and desire” their husband.

Wow….how good is it to know that despite all of our downfalls our wife still looks at us as her knight in shining armor? No, not the 1.75 inch one that came through the mail, but a living, breathing personal He-Man, Gladiator, Round Table Regular, and Superman. The one she dreamed about when she was a girl who would marry her and live happily ever after.

Knowing that my wife thinks about me this way inspires me.

I keep my Father’s Day gift by our bed on my “knight” stand. It reminds me every day to try to be the husband that she sees in me. It reminds me that my BIGGEST gift is her.

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LADIES – THIS IS PEACEFULWIFE AGAIN! 🙂

RESPECT DARE 23:

– What successes has your husband accomplished?   How have you celebrated those successes with him?

– What gift might he appreciate that would show how much you appreciate, admire and respect your man? What symbolizes manhood to him?  A certain sport?  Hunting? Golfing?  The military?

– Pray that God might help you bless your husband with pure motives – expecting nothing in return – just celebrating him to bless him and to please God.

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PLEASE share your ideas and how it goes with the rest of us !!!!! 🙂

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