Sean Lowe

Every season I say I won’t watch. Every season I do. It’s like the train wreck you can’t look away from only this time the wreckage is sweet young women who are looking for love at any cost. There will be tears. There will be broken hearts. And there will be millions of women around the world watching.

This season of the Bachelor is no exception, and I was sucked in like moth to a flame from week one. Let me first say that I actually like this bachelor. Sean seems like a solid guy, a man of character and someone who — based on his twitter feeds of Bible verses — loves Jesus. Reality show aside, if we were buddies (and I like to think we would be if we were neighbors) I’d totally set him up with all my single friends.

Each week I watch the second half of the show after Bible study (I catch up on the first half of the show the next day on Hulu). I’m dying to know who gets to “accept this rose” and who will go home. J comes home from his men’s Bible study towards the end of the show, groans when he sees what I’m watching and then snuggles up next to me as I watch the rose ceremony unfold. And by the end of the show this one feeling overwhelms me… the same feeling week after week… I’m am so blessed to have this man by my side.

There are probably a long list of reason’s why I should stop watching the Bachelor — the drama, the endless lip-locking and hot tub hangs — but in the end it’s the romance that wins out. I want to see someone find the love of their life, even if it means dating a guy who is also dating 12 other women at the same time. I want to see love win.

But this crazy thing happens as I watch the show every week — I am filled to the brim with thankfulness for my husband.

As I watch the bachelor swap spit and roll in the sand with a half-dozen ladies each week, I say a prayer of thanks for a man who waited for me, respected me and who always treated me like a treasure.

As I watch the bachelor tell girl after girl that he’s crazy about them, I’m thankful for my man who is true to his word.

As I watch each date unfold in a new city with a new adventure, I’m so thankful to have married a man who is also my best friend, who I love to explore the world with.

As I watch the bachelor navigate the difficult maze of girl drama, bikinis and hometown visits, I’m thankful that I married a man of integrity and character.

As I watch girls step into that limo in tears, wondering what they did wrong (nothing, sweet girls…he’s just not the one!), I feel gratitude to have found my soul mate after 30 years of waiting, and know that he’s a millions times better than the guys who came before him.

And in a few weeks, as I watch Sean tell one girl (I’m voting for Ashley) that she’s the love of his life and that he wants to spend forever with her, I’ll be reminded of my own vows almost 3 years ago, of this man that God gifted me with, the man that I get to spend the rest of my life wife and I’ll be thankful. So thankful. And J will come home from his Bible study that night, snuggle up next to me and I’ll kiss him and tell him just how much I love him.