Last week I had the opportunity to attend Girls' Camp. It was a lot of fun, and I learned a lot about the theme, which was "Stand For Your Happily Ever After". One lesson that my unit moms gave centered on preparing for marriage, so they gave us a notebook to keep qualities that we would like our future husbands to have and qualities that we need to develop to be worthy of that type of man.
I think this is a great idea, because if we don't know what we want in our eternal companions, we will settle for less than what we want. And if we don't know how to improve ourselves in order to be better people ourselves, we won't be able to love our spouse as fully as we could if we became our best selves.
Here is a list of qualities of future husband that were already written down and a few that I added:
A man who doesn't keep me guessing about his feelings and what he wants.
A man who pursues me.
A man who sees me as the bright spot in his day.
A man who means it when he calls me "baby".
A man who will forget about all the other things in his life, [except the Lord], before he forgets about me.
A man who does what he says he's going to do.
A man who doesn't make me feel [more] anxious, uneasy, or worse by being in a relationship with him than I did being alone.
A man who makes an effort to be a peacemaker and bring harmony to fights and disagreements.
A man who is not afraid of commitment and is proud to call me his.
A man who makes being around him feel natural and easy.
A man who doesn't suppress his feelings to look cool or appear uninvolved.
A man who never keeps me in the dark.
A man who never would do anything to compromise the integrity of our relationship, or get anywhere close.
A man who can respectfully discuss issues without manipulation or losing his temper.
A man who is strong and tough, but not a "bad boy".
A man who does not make me feel ashamed, needy or "unliberated" for wanting marriage and a family.
A man with whom a relationship would bring me closer to my aspirations for the future.
A man who makes me feel comfortable enough to bring up sensitive topics.
A man who doesn't need forever to realize I'm one of the best things that's ever happened to him.
A man who would move mountains to keep me.
A man who genuinely doesn't like to be without me, instead of just not wanting to be alone.
A man who allows me to love freely, without restrictions.
A man who doesn't have to heal in the relationship, but has already taken care of his past.
A man who makes it clear in his everyday actions that my happiness is important to him.
A man who makes a constant attempt to love the people I hold dear, and especially my family.
A man who does not engage in any activity to an extent in which I feel uncomfortable.
A man who understands that there is no reason to yell at anybody, except for safety.
A man who treats me just as perfectly in public and around his friends as he does when we're alone.
A ma who treats me better than I feel I deserve.
A man who never belittles me to feel superior.
A man who goes out of his way to make sure that I know my worth is infinite, that I'm smart, valuable, and deserving of everything I've ever wanted.
A man who hungers for information about me and doesn't spend our time solely talking about himself.
A man who has the ability and desire to provide.
A man who doesn't make me feel like I have to give up anything which I find to be essential for making life enjoyable.
A man who honors the woman I am and have the potential to become.
A man who will always want to protect me from things that frighten me.
A man who is nice to me all the time and who is clearly a good, kind, loving person.
A man who makes me hope that my sisters and best friends can find someone like him.
A man who believes in love the verb, not the noun.
A man who respects my need for space.
A man who makes me want to become better.
A man who will stop conversations to tell me that I'm beautiful.
A man who acknowledges when he is wrong or at fault and is willing to repent.
A man who has a quirky sense of humor.
A man who is intelligent.
A man who is willing to converse about deep subjects.
A man who respects everybody.
A man who loves the Lord more than he loves me.
A man who makes me smile.
