LoVe

Happy Valentine's Day!  Some of you may not celebrate Valentine's Day, thinking it's just a Hallmark Holiday.  I felt that way for a while.  But now, in the midst of marriage and motherhood, I am grateful that there is a "holiday" that forces me to slow down and intentionally show love.  I said to my husband yesterday that we need to show love for one another more throughout the year.  We get so busy that our marriage gets put on the back burner.  We know our spouses will be there, so we'll just nurture that relationship when we have time and energy.  Then, before you know it, so much time has passed that you don't even know how to relate to one another as husband and wife.  

So, in order to be more intentional with showing love for my husband, I'm going to start doing things for him throughout the week.  My husband is an easy man to please, that's what makes it so much worse that I haven't been doing the little things for him.  He's so laid back that I think I let things go even more because of that.  He doesn't really say much unless something's gotten way out of hand (ie. he's on the verge of recycling underwear because the laundry isn't done.  I wish I were joking here.  Sad.)  Here are a few of the things I'm going to do for him: 

• Pack his lunch
• Put his clothes away after I do laundry (sometimes it sits in the basket for a week)
• Surprise him with a Starbuck's coffee that I've picked up on the way home from an outing
• Give him a foot rub (ick.. not my favorite, but he LOVES it)
• Offer to get him something to drink or eat if I'm in the kitchen and he's not

These are simple things.  Most of them are things I should already be doing.  The first thing I'm going to do though, before any of the things listed above, is pray.  God created us.  He knows what we need.  I'm going to ask God to show me what my husband needs. 

I was reminded of this Bible verse this morning: 

"LOVE is patient, LOVE is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. LOVE does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  LOVE never fails."    

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 

I think it would be a good idea to pick this verse apart and examine how we're doing with each key phrase.  This is always a hard task.  Not many people I know like self-reflection.  But, if we want to honor God with our marriages and relationships, we need to be willing to look at it all.  I started getting hives just underlining the words.  I know I fall short in many of these areas but, I know that I can accomplish these things through God's grace.  

I love this verse because it speaks about the way we love, but it's also about how God loves us.  Amazing.  

How will you be celebrating Valentine's Day?  How do you intentionally show love to your spouse?  

Blessings and LOVE, 

Heather