Friday, January 30, 2009

I've been busted...

Well, I guess this is a good thing. I've been outed. Is that how you spell that? Anyway, around Christmas, on one of the Barnes and Noble sales, I bought The Love Dare. Now, this is not the type of book you give as a gift to someone else. Somehow, I think you'd be taking several steps backward if you gave this to your spouse. In essence, you are saying, "Gee, I think you really need to use this to love me better, because what you are doing is obviously not working or adequate. So, go ahead and march through the 40 days, then get back to me and we'll talk."

Now, if you gave your spouse The Love Dare as a gift, I apologize for my above statement.

However, if you didn't, I would recommend getting it for yourself as a gift for your spouse. (Wow, that's confusing.) Let me explain. This book charts out 40 days of daily life lessons that you can do to improve how you treat your spouse, how you approach him/her, how you can improve and grow and strengthen your love. I have a good marriage. I have a husband who loves the Lord, loves his family, loves to be with his family, and tries to put us first. While all these things are true, I don't always treat him the way I should. I am selfish, often put my needs first, question him which directly speaks to my respect for him, and can sometimes be a nag. I'm not too proud to admit it. So, now I'm in a 40 step recovery program to improve on all that. That's what I call it anyway.

"Hello, my name is Sarah, and I have a problem with loving my husband unconditionally."

"Hello, Sarah."

Seriously, don't we all have a problem with that? Can't we all do better? I love how this book lays out simple steps each day to make you more AWARE of what you are doing, supporting it with biblical principles, and then challenges you to do something specific each day to grow and improve your marriage. That's why I think it is such a great tool. Because I don't want to have a good marriage.

I want to have an awesome, out of this world, love has no bounds, spectacular marriage. And, I believe God wants us to have that, too.

So, last night, my dh asks if I am doing something like The Love Dare. Of course I look at him blankly to see what he means, and ask why he would ask such a thing. He responded that it seemed like I was being more kind to him (gasp, have I been unkind?), touching him more (I am not a touchy-feely person), and just have been acting different (PTL, he has seen a difference).

Well, I finally 'fessed up that I was working through the book, but was only on Day 11. (Sometimes, I have to spend more than one day on a lesson to really give it justice, you know) But, I was always hoping that he would see a difference if I went through this endeavor, so I am excited that he has. I pray that I can keep up the changes to improve and further invest in the best earthly gift I have been given, that of my husband.

Brad, you are the best thing that has happened to me. It is a joy for me to learn how to love you more. I love you. I will always try to live by this verse:

"Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus." Philippians 2:5

That's one of many I am trying to emulate. I'll try, I'll fail, but I'll keep moving in the right direction. Thanks for your patience.

4 comments:

Amy said...

Oh my goodness!!! LOL!!! I am laughing with you girl..not at ya!! Seriously now, could you pick any other subjest today?? LOL!! I mean, come on!! ha ha...

oh man... sigh... now that I have gathered my wits...sigh... Alright already... I need this book. I will just say it! I do! I love my husband, but I sooooo know that I need to love him deeper and stronger. I always want him to love ME more tho.. but, uh, not the other way around...yeah.. not so much!

Thanks for sharing and poking fun at yourself! It's a strong woman to stand up and say all that you did... I love that about you tho!

Hugs, and uh, thanks for the kick in the pants today.. I soooooo appreciate it! (rubbing bottom and walking away)

:D Your nutty friend.. Amy

Anonymous said...

You make me laugh Sarah. I have a confession to make. I bought the book and only got through #3. Ya, big fat failure! Thanks for your encouragement though and I'm going to start again and this time stick with it! And it's so cool that he noticed a difference. Way to go!

Melanie said...

Is that the same book that was used on the movie, "Fireproof"? I've only seen the previews but it looks like it could be. It sounds like an awesome book.

Christine said...

I can't think of one area in my life that I don't need help in. I will ahve to look into this book and I promise..not giving it to him...buying for me for him! Thanks for the thumbs up.