I don't think you realize what you want in a relationship until you have experienced

what you absolutely do not want.

Since I was 12 my mom told me to pray for "the right one". As I get older, I not only pray for the right one but for the right kind of love. Because I've met some people who truly felt like "the right one" but definitely didn't give me the love that I deserved. Because of that, I've set a standard that I won't settle any less for.

Call me old-fashioned but I look forward to meeting the man who asks for my number or to take me on a date instead of finding me on Facebook just to like all my recent profile pictures. The man who asks me if I enjoyed my day instead of if I have a Snapchat. Today's technology and social media has taken away all the romance. I had a boy in 4th grade write me a note that said "You make me smile more than when I find out my mom made chicken casserole for supper." That little boy loved his momma's chicken casserole y'all, and I'm still honored, to this day, to have been loved as much as he loved that dish! I hope my daughter has a little love-struck 10 year old fall for her like Lane Jones did for me that year. It's the sweet little things that a woman never forgets. These are just some small things I hope for. The big things I want out of my forever man, well that's when I go to the man upstairs. I haven't been to church much in recent years (shame on me) but I still talk to God often. And some days when I miss talking to him more than usual I kneel down by my bed and fill his ears full.

I always start by asking him to send me someone who also talks to God. I ask

for a selfless man, like my Daddy. I watched my Dad put my Mom, me, and my brothers

first my whole life. I want nothing less than that. I ask for a man who works hard and not

because I want to live off him my whole life. But because a person who works hard

is more likely to appreciate what they have because they've earned it. I pray for a man who helps others

because one day we might need help and good deeds always come back to you. I pray for a loving man

that wants children. I hope he is stern enough to help teach our babies right from wrong but that

he'll be fun enough to roll around on the trampoline in the rain with them. I want my kids to not

only have a father, but a daddy.

I also know

sometimes a man is only as good as the woman beside him. So I always

pray at the end that I can be a good enough woman to deserve the good man god

has waiting for me. I pray that I'm kind enough that he'll be excited to come

home to me. I pray I'll be content enough that making a living for our kids and I will not be a strain but more

of an honor. I pray that when he needs comfort I will have the right words to say or a tender touch to help

with the pain. I pray that even when he makes me furious that I still know he's a good man. I pray that we

can be each other's best friend at the end of every day.

My heart's desire is to just have someone that says I'm the best thing that's ever happened to him someday. I hope I can be the answer to someone else's bed side prayer one day.