Love Dare ~ Love is Not Rude

"He who blesses his friend with a loud voice early in the morning, it will be reckoned a curse to him."-Proverbs 27:14

Dare: Ask your spouse to tell you three things that cause him to be uncomfortable or irritated with you. You must do so without attacking them or justifying your behavior. This is from their perspective only.

Oh Geez! This was a toughy. I'm not one to listen to personal complaints and not say anything back. lol
Here are my 3 flaws:
1. I don't listen as well as the hubs would like at times.
2. I correct hubs too harshly when it comes to caring for our son.
3. I get angry way too quick.

Dear God,
Please help me make the changes I need to make within myself to bring more love and peace to my marriage. Gently remind me when my mouth gets the best of me. Please forgive me for the wrong I've done and strengthen me to be the wife my husband deserves.

Amen.

~Amy

Love Dare ~ Love is Thoughtful

"How precious also are Your thoughts to me...How vast is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand.-Psalm 139:17-18

Dare: Contact your spouse sometime during the business of the day. Have no agenda other than askin how he is doing and if there is anything you could do for them.

Well, if this wasn't the dare of the day, I would have done it anyway. The hubs is sick and isn't sleeping well. I called him and asked if I could run out and pick up anything that would help him at all. He quickly said "no". I emphasized to him how important his health and comfort is to me. I asked him again if he needed anything. Hubs was silent then said, " I really appreciate that, hun. I don't think I'll need anything but I'll let you know if I do. I love you."
I was so happy with his reaction. I'm so happy to be doing this love dare and I know it will make our good marriage better. :)

~Amy

Love Dare ~ Love is Not Selfish

"Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor."- Romans 12:10

Dare: Whatever you put your time, energy, and money into will become more important to you. It's hard to care for something you are not investing in. Along with restraining from negative comments, buy your spouse something that says, "I was thinking of you today".

OK, this dare took a bit of time. I had no idea what to buy my hubs and I was on a fixed amount of money to work with. I went back and forth deciding if I would actually buy something or if I would make something. My son and I went over to Big Lots to find something for the hubs. A-HA! I found some Saunders Peanut Butter Cups. I knew my hubs would go crazy over those and he's been working some very long hours.
I bought them and stuck them in the freezer. Later that evening, the hubs got home from work and I told him to go look in the freezer door if he wanted a snack. He was ecstatic! He's still telling me how much he loves his peanut butter cups. Apparently, they're the best he's ever had. I say it's because I bought them with a whole load of love. :)

Love Dare ~ Love is Kind

"Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you." - Ephesians 4:32

Dare: "In addition to saying nothing negative to your spouse again today, do at least one unexpected gesture as an act of kindness"

Let's talk about this day. :) My hubs was sick and I decided to let him sleep in while I took care of Alex in the morning. Then, I made his favorite breakfast and was about to bring it to him in bed when he woke up. Instead, we all sat down to breakfast together and had a nice, family chat.
This dare became difficult as the day dragged on. The hubs was getting tired, I got a migraine, and our son was being a handful.
I'm commited to this dare so I stuck it out and made sure to help my hubs as much as I could. It was draining, and he was acting like a big baby at times, but I never ran off my mouth at him nor did I lose my patience.
At the end of the day, my hubs thanked me for everything and said he really appreciated my support.
:) YAY! SUCCESS!
I'm sure other days may be more challenging, but I'm COMMITED to this.

~Amy

The First Dare

So, yesterday was interesting and a tad bit difficult. The first dare is to say nothing negative. I thought to myself, Oh! Easy, peasy.

lol

Boy was I wrong. I realized that I say a lot more negative things to my husband than I thought. BUT, I stuck to my guns and got through the day without saying anything negative to him.

The hardest part of the day, by far, was when we arrived home from our trip to Wal-mart. The hubs was driving my car and turned into our spot in the covered parking. What do ya know...he hit the pole and dented my bumper. Normally, I would say, "AW, What the crap?" and get mad. This time, I just laughed because I knew that God was testing my commitment to this process.

We made it through the day and I was really proud.

I'm doing this for my marriage. I'm doing this because I love my husband and I want him to know how much I appreciate him.

~Amy

So, I'm Thinkin'...

I'll be joining in with Toni and taking the "Love Dare". My hubster has absolutely NO clue that I'm doing this. That's why I had to start a completely different blog. I'm curious about just how insightful he will be. Will he know I'm up to something right off the bat?

Will this be hard to do? Well, it may be a little bit challenging at times. I haven't been peeking ahead in my book to know what I'm looking at as far as the dares are concerned. I have been in prayer about this, though. I'm taking this very seriously.

My marriage is not one that is in trouble or even remotely close to being at risk. However, my marriage is extremely important to me and I know that it takes work...even in the good times. I desire to make my "good" marriage better. I want to start a trend of doing things like the love dare to help us learn and move to the next level "until death parts us".

I hope you'll follow in my journey. I will officially start on February 14th but I may just have some thoughts on this to post before I begin. My first official post for the love dare will be on the 15th, after I've completed the first dare.

Wish me luck!