[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":118},["ShallowReactive",2],{"\u002Farticles\u002Fhow-can-i-count-the-ways":3,"\u002Farticles\u002Fhow-can-i-count-the-ways-surround":107},{"id":4,"title":5,"author":6,"bibleBooks":8,"body":10,"columnName":90,"date":91,"description":16,"extension":92,"image":93,"meta":94,"minRead":95,"navigation":96,"path":97,"postType":98,"publication":99,"publicationUrl":93,"seo":100,"stem":101,"topics":102,"__hash__":106},"blog\u002Farticles\u002Fhow-can-i-count-the-ways.md","How Can I Count the Ways?",{"name":7},"Dave Faust",[9],"Ephesians",{"type":11,"value":12,"toc":86},"minimark",[13,17,20,23,26,29,32,35,38,41,44,47,50,53,56,59,62,65,68,71,74,77,80,83],[14,15,16],"p",{},"In a famous sonnet the English poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote, \"How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.\" I can't reduce my marriage to mathematics, but when I think about my wife Candy I can identify many ways to quantify our love.",[14,18,19],{},"Number of wedding anniversaries we have celebrated: 33.",[14,21,22],{},"Days we have been together \"for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health\": more than 12,000.",[14,24,25],{},"Children we have brought up together: three.",[14,27,28],{},"Hours I have spent waiting impatiently for her to come to the car when I'm ready to go somewhere: at least 60. Hours she has spent waiting for me to come home from work, late for supper: at least 600.",[14,30,31],{},"Years she has been paid for her work as a Registered Nurse: 12. Years she has received no pay whatsoever for her work as a mother and a minister's wife: 33.",[14,33,34],{},"Estimated number of shirts she has ironed for me during the course of our marriage: 5,148. Estimated number of shirts I have ironed for myself over the same period of time: 500.",[14,36,37],{},"Estimated number of times I have ironed an article of clothing for her over the same period of time: maybe three. (It's not that I'm unwilling. She doesn't trust my ironing skills.)",[14,39,40],{},"Times she got up during the night to care for our kids when they were sick: unknown, but whatever the number, it's at least five times the number of nights when I did it.",[14,42,43],{},"Times she has watched an entire football game with me from kickoff till the final gun: 0.",[14,45,46],{},"Times I have watched a movie with her that I didn't really enjoy: 33 (at least once a year).",[14,48,49],{},"Estimated number of loaves of her delicious homemade oatmeal bread she has baked over the years: 825.",[14,51,52],{},"Times we have exchanged snippy comments: at least 12,000 (an average of once per day, with occasional gusts up to 10 or more).",[14,54,55],{},"Occasions when we got so angry with each other that I flipped toothpaste at her and she hit me with a loaf of bread: once. (It's a famous story in our family—the stuff legends are made of.)",[14,57,58],{},"Dumb things I have done over the years: too many to count.",[14,60,61],{},"Dumb things she has done over the years: none I'm going to mention in this column.",[14,63,64],{},"Number of states we have visited during the course of our marriage: 48.",[14,66,67],{},"Times I have thanked the Lord for blessing me with such a terrific wife: more than I can count.",[14,69,70],{},"Years Elizabeth Barrett spent ill and living as a recluse, alone in her bedroom: five.",[14,72,73],{},"Number of letters Elizabeth exchanged over 20 months with her suitor, the English author Robert Browning, prior to their marriage: 574. (They eloped in 1846.)",[14,75,76],{},"Times Elizabeth's father spoke to her again after she married Robert: 0. (Her father bitterly opposed their marriage.)",[14,78,79],{},"Number of children the Brownings had together: one (a son named Pen, born when Elizabeth was 43.)",[14,81,82],{},"Elizabeth Barrett Browning died at age 55. Years she and Robert Browning were married before she died: 15. This means I already have enjoyed more than twice as many years with my wife as the Brownings shared together. I have been given far more days with my beloved than the poet was given who wrote, \"How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.\"",[14,84,85],{},"But then again, who's counting?",{"title":87,"searchDepth":88,"depth":88,"links":89},"",2,[],"First Look","2009-06-07","md",null,{},3,true,"\u002Farticles\u002Fhow-can-i-count-the-ways","column","The Lookout",{"title":5,"description":16},"articles\u002Fhow-can-i-count-the-ways",[103,104,105],"Christian Unity","Biblical Theology","Intergenerational Ministry","XF1QdxPyoNONcKUGIaJrbGu_KZIUcKbR4wqf00qb9Fw",[108,113],{"title":109,"path":110,"stem":111,"description":112,"children":-1},"How Big Is Your Worldview?","\u002Farticles\u002Fhow-big-is-your-worldview","articles\u002Fhow-big-is-your-worldview","Talking with a coworker about plans for an upcoming banquet, I said, “Even if 20 people attend, it will be worthwhile.” She smiled and replied, “I was thinking we should plan for 500 guests.” Evidently I wasn’t thinking big enough.",{"title":114,"path":115,"stem":116,"description":117,"children":-1},"How Did the Two of You Meet?","\u002Farticles\u002Fhow-did-the-two-of-you-meet","articles\u002Fhow-did-the-two-of-you-meet","At a luncheon for senior adults, I found a table where half a dozen smiling seniors were preparing to eat. I slid into an empty chair next to Harry, a gentleman in his 80s known as a pillar in the church. Harry smiled at me and said, \"I have a question for you, Dave. How have you been treating that sweet wife of yours?\"",1790466155817]