Marry the man who tells you no.

I was pulling out to head north for Thanksgiving, leaving back my farmer, who has to stay behind to work, when a song was playing on the radio.

I’d do whatever she likes
Give her Christmas in July
She ain't gotta tell me twice
I would do, I would do anything...

I was signing along and then stopped.

Anything she wants?? What a load of crap.

It sounds romantic. It sounds like love - some guy willing to drop everything, spend everything, do everything because it’s what she wants.

And that might be fun. When you’re 17. But hear me - that ain’t going to cut it in real life.

There’s going to come a day when suddenly you find yourself smack dab in the middle of adulting. It’ll hit you out of nowhere. You’ll wake up one morning, exhausted, carrying an extra 5 pounds, and feeling hung over but you’re definitely not hung over because you don’t have time for a drink.

There will be bills to pay, college to save for, dinner to cook, and lists. Lists everywhere - lists for things to be done, things to be bought, things to be prayed for, things not to forget, things you already forgot, places you have to go, places they have to go...

You get the picture.

When you’re there. When you wake up in the middle of that chaos, not sure what happened or how you got there, you’re going to want a man by your side that knows how to say no.

No to staying in bed, even when you’d both rather, because there is work to be done.

No to dropping his responsibilities in the name of fun, because he knows his family counts on him.

No to spending money that isn’t there because corn prices are at rock bottom and bills still have to be paid.

No to complaining about leftovers three nights in a row because you’re just too beat to cook dinner yet again.

I know sometimes it sounds romantic to forget about life and just be in love. But trust me, when you find yourself in the thick of it all, you’ll no longer be intrigued by a man who indulges every whim and functions off what “feels good”.

Instead, you’ll treasure the steady, calm patience of a man disciplined enough to say no to what feels good and instead says yes to what needs to be done.

That’s love. Even if it means missing out on all the fun.