Be my valentine marriage challenge

 

This week's challenge is: be a little more creative with your praise. Surprise your husband with:

1. A love message on the mirror
2. A love message packed in his lunch
3. Use sidewalk chalk and write a love message on the driveway
4. Write a list of ten things you admire about him and then read them out loud to him.
5. Make a toast to him at dinner with friends. Or raise your glass at dinner and list the things you admire about your husband for your children to hear!
6. Buy or make your husband a trophy and engrave it with the words "The Best Husband in the World." (I found a cheap trophy at a party supplies store - the kids loved presenting it to daddy)
7. Write a poem - even if you can't write - it can be goofy. Include in it references to your favorite movies, restaurants, places to go and memories. He will enjoy the trip down memory lane and the laugh!
8- Blow up balloons and put a loving message in each one. Fill your bedroom with balloons as a surprise.
9- Take a roll of receipt tape and write a long message with the things you admire and respect about your husband - then roll it up and put it in a bottle for your husband to open and read. (I made many of these for my husband in college when we were dating long distance. I mailed them in packages.)
10. Get creative with your selflessness!

"When you touch your husband's deepest need something good almost always happens!"~ Dr. Emerson Eggerich

So I challenge you today to not just show your husband you love him but show him that you LIKE him!

Marriage Monday

Julie over at http://comehaveapeace.blogspot.com/

really touched me with her Marriage Monday post this week as well! (I often times get irritated with Ben when he is doing something to try and help so this article hit way close to home!)I just wanted to share a bit of it for y'all as well. You should go check out the whole article though too!

I was not appreciating his work or his help or his kind way of doing it. I was not blessing him for serving me with his gifts or joining him in caring for our home together. This really wasn't about having a polished pantry, categorized cans, or beautifully lined boxes. Lurking somewhere in the dark recesses of the snack shelf, beside the expired cracker packs and can of beets, was my pride, and it needed to be tossed out. I lost the opportunity of thanking my husband for offering me his help to lift a load in my life. It was an opportunity lost, similar to the potatoes that went bad while hiding on the floor behind the extra bread flour.

When the Psalmist wrote about the wicked, he addressed pride, how it can stir up ugly words against someone who is behaving righteously. Pride can actually rob us of blessings we are mean to enjoy .... even in the marriage pantry.


Psalm 31:18-19


Let their lying lips be silenced, for with pride and contempt they speak arrogantly against the righteous. How abundant are the good things that you have stored up for those who fear you, that you bestow in the sight of all, on those who take refuge in you.
Better ...
There is no room for pride in the pantry of marriage. It has a short shelf life and stinks when we keep it around. Like I wouldn't keep a bag of rotten potatoes in a pantry full of fresh food, I can't let my pride remain and contaminate my relationships, especially my marriage.
When ugliness rears up in our marriage, we can be thankful God's mercies are new each day, and asking for forgiveness is a bridge to extend to our loved one. Restoration with our lover is sweet, but requires humility to get there, letting someone "get in our pantry." The alternative would be to let it stay hidden and ignored, but then it just expires and rots. Who wants rotten potatoes (pride?) in a marriage, when "abundant are the good things" that God has for us to experience?
I'm praying our marriage pantries are in order today and that nothing is "rotting" in there ;) It might be time to clean it out and do a little organizing together.

And I also wanted to share this excerpt from the Proverbs 31 ministry on marriage from yesterday. (All of these wonderful, godly women writing about marriage this week....I feel that Ben and I are in a very good spot in our marriage right now but it doesn't ever hurt to be reminded about loving and caring for our spouses!)

http://www.proverbs31.org/

How can dwelling on the past damage our marriage? When we dwell on the past, we're robbed of the treasures of the present. We don't see the gifts God's given us right now in our husbands and marriage. Maybe he doesn't bring you flowers anymore, but he works hard every day to provide. He doesn't thank you for the clean laundry because he's busy with a house project he hopes will make you smile. He knows he made mistakes in the past, but he's trying hard to change.

God has a better answer for what to do when we find ourselves dwelling on the past in a detrimental way. He says, "See, I am doing a new thing!" (Isaiah 43:19) In other words, God asks us to redirect our focus to the good things He can and will do in our marriages. As we continue in Isaiah we come to a question we need to ask ourselves, "Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?" (43:19).

God's is asking, Do you see the good things I'm doing right now... in your life or marriage? Pay attention or you're going to miss out!

To redirect our focus on the new things God is doing in our marriages, we can pray about our marriage mindset, asking God to help us see the blessings, not the drawbacks. We can choose to think about how our marriage has gotten better, and look forward to the future we have together.


Dear Lord, You make all things new. Will You give me new eyes to see the good things I sometimes miss? Help me not to dwell on the past but to focus on the present and future. You are making a way, Lord, and I trust You with my heart, my husband and my marriage. Help us deal with any issues that are damaging our relationship, so we can appreciate the new things You're doing. In Jesus' Name, Amen.