Day 16 of Love

And looking at them Jesus said to them,
“ With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
~Matthew 19:26

Today's Challenge:

Take a few minutes to consider what "weeds" may be choking out the unity in your marriage (selfishness, busyness, inattention, laziness, pride, anger, lack of forgiveness, specific sins).
Ask God to help you start pulling weeds this very day.

Think of one practical way that you can plant a seed in the right direction:
Do you need to ask for your husband's forgiveness?
~ Write him a note or call him today.
Is life too busy to devote time and energy to your marriage?
~ Ask your husband if together, you can find a way to make your marriage a priority.
Would your marriage benefit from biblical counseling or other biblical resources?
~ With your husband's blessing, take steps to seek out the help you need.
Have you been faithless when it comes to praying for your husband?
~ Take a few moments and start praying now.
Does your husband need to know how much you care for and value him?~ Follow through with one specific action today that will communicate your love.

Liza Jane says...

After years of marriage you tend to start getting cobwebs in your dancing shoes. Google and I always have "date night" once a week, but it has really turned a bit routine (dinner/movie) and wasn't exciting the way it was meant to be. If you know us, you know that we had a very rocky year in 2009 and were separated for 7 months with me in Hawaii and him in Thailand. Thank you Love Dare for helping us fireproof our marriage! Being apart and the fear of losing our marriage really helped us to realize that the time we have together is a gift and should not be wasted.

So we started talking and came up with a new plan. First, we decided that instead off celebrating our anniversary just one time a year we were going to celebrate it every month with little mini monthaversary. To help us with ideas on things to do I came up with the idea of working through the alphabet (I'm such a teacher!) so each month we will do one or two things starting with the letter we are currently on.

Google thought this was a great idea and started going through the alphabet of restaurants we could eat at! NOT the idea! The things we do needed to be stuff that we wouldn't normally do. For example, we have just started all over at A,  so this month we are taking Archery Lessons together.( May sound lame but it is something we both enjoy.) For "B" we are going to Bangkok and for "C" we are taking an Indian Cooking Class together.

  Google doesn't know it yet, but next month I am dragging him to dance lessons to try to erase some of his white boy rhythm. For "E" maybe the elephant reserve, (of course he is going to say "eat"). The idea is to #1 spend time together doing things that we don't normally do and #2 get out and see more of Chiang Mai. We have so many awesome things here in this little town that tourist come to see, but as locals we never take the time for.  I can't wait to find out all the crazy adventures we might get into this year, and I look forward to spending time with my love! Any ideas for us???

DAy 15 of Love

Today's Challenge:

In what areas are your expectations for your husband unrealistic and possibly smothering him? Ask God to reveal them to you, then surrender those expectations to Him. This week, I challenge you to look for the good things in your husband – then tell him about them! And when he falls short? Extend grace.

Wow! Me smother???? Never!  I have NO IDEA why my grown-up kids call me "Smother", really I don't! 
OK, so getting real with the Lord. there might be a possibility that I, maybe, might smother my husband. But I have an excuse, really I do, and it's a good one! You see, 2 weeks after we were married Google and I moved to China all on our own. We were the only westerners around and the only native English speakers. Not only that but we worked together at the same school. so basically we spent All our time together for the first 3 years of our marriage.


Now Google has his own company he spends alot of time in business meetings and weeks on end in Africa. HATE IT! It is so lonely for me at times. I have really no friends here in Thailand because people tend to come for one or two years then leave. So my husband is the only other adult I have to converse with,  I know I am so demanding of his attention and he is so good about it, but I really need to change.  
I realize that after losing so many friends, I have a problem with meeting people, so today I am taking it to the Lord. Jehovah I pray that you can help me to open up and starting making friends again so that my poor husband is no longer burdened with trying to be my constant companion, and being dragged to chick flicks all the time!

Day 14 of Love

Today's Challenge:

Think back to when you met your husband. Remember what it was about him that made him the man of your dreams. Tell him at least one thing that makes him still that man.

Have I told you that my husband is a nerd?  Really, I am not even joking. The first road trip we took together we had no car radio, so he sang to me. 4 hours of "YA YA YA Yoda"  and every other star wars song he could think of . I knew all the words.
The first time I went to his apartment I was looking for tissue in the linen closet and there at the top was a Klingon mask. I guess I should have know right there that life with this man was  NOT going to be typical.  Google is 100% the opposite of any guy that I would have considered "my type"  but obviously God knows me way better than I know my self, because in this silly geeky guy I have found my true love. No, he may not be able to dance, and lordy, he don't even own a pair of wranglers. But he looks pretty cute to me is that big ol' Klingon head.
God has gifted me a guy who is probably just as weird as I am, and balances me out perfectly. It's easy to get annoyed with his ramblings about things I have no idea or interest in, but maybe I need to cut the guys some slack and remember that it was that weird, nerdy big brain that attracted me to him!

Day 7 of Love

Today's Challenge:

Make the time to nurture your marriage relationship, no matter how old your children are and no matter how old YOU are! Satan would love to see cracks form so that he can get in there and create division and steal glory from God! What a testimony for Christ, to have fought hard to nurture a relationship and to see God turn it into something that He uses for His glory!

Day 6 of Love

I have come into my garden, my bride;
I have gathered my myrrh along with mybalsam.
I have eaten my honeycomb and my honey;
I have drunk my wine and my milk.
~ Song of Solomon 5:1

there are two main ways a woman can pursue their husband:

1. Affirmation - You should be your husband's biggest fan! Tell him you love him, tell him he looks nice, tell him he's a good dad, tell him you appreciate his hard work, tell him he's a hunk! Your husband shouldn't have to live on a compliment you gave him two weeks ago. Make affirming him a primary way you pursue him. It is a lie and a myth that men don't care about feelings or emotions. They want to know you still have feelings and emotions for them! Affirming your husband is a great way to show him your love and desire to pursue him.
   
2. Affection - Your husband wants to know he is desired. It's not true that all he cares about is s*x. He certainly cares about it, but he also wants to be wanted. Be a wife who initiates physical contact.

Today's Challenge:

Think of one or two ways that you can pursue your husband, and put that plan into action today!

All I can say is WOW!

6 Months have RUSHED  by and my like Pickles in now half a year old.  Many things have changed, but one thing is always constant, that sweet, smile and giddiness that she always displays. I can't wait to see what the next 6 months bring!

Day 4 Of Love

May you rejoice in the wife of your youth. A loving doe, a graceful deer – may her breasts satisfy you always, may you ever be captivated by her love. ~ Proverbs 5:18,19Today's Challenge:

Purpose this week to do something that reminds your husband of the youthful wife you once were – maybe it’s wearing something you know he loves on you (remember we dressed to please back in those dating days!), go somewhere you both used to enjoy going together – alone!, look at photos together of the “good ol’days”, watch a favorite movie, or just simply sit together talking, listening, dreaming, holding hands, rubbing his back, and simply paying attention to the amazing husband of your youth! Treasure him this week!

Has it really been 9 yrs??? It is impossible to look back and remember that person who married that man. We had a whirl-wind romance to say the least. I was a free spirited cowgirl running a ranch in Colorado and Google was a nerdy, dungeons and Dragons playing city boy.  I guess I roped him good, because we were married 6 months to the day after we met!! Two weeks after we got married we were off to China to begin our crazy international journey. 
Having MS has really aged me. I try to stay young mentally, but physically I am aging double time. I look like my mom now, and I'm not talking my mom at 40, I'm talking my mom at 60!  I look at myself and think, "Why would my good looking 35 year old husband want to be married to this??"  Depressing huh? 
I have been wracking my brain I and I think that for this challenge I need to have my husband help find me. This week he is away in Africa, but when he gets back I think it will be good to sit and hatch out a road map back to myself. 
Google has some board line- autistic tendencies when it comes to telling the truth. I may hear things I don't really want to hear, but I think that to love him (and HIM) I need to love my self and maybe a shot of truth juice might give me that little kick I need to get there!