Be My Valentine Marriage Challenge Week 1 ~ Take the Initiative

As I mentioned in my post last week I am taking the Be My Valentine Marriage Challenge with Courtney at Women Living Well and this is officially Week 1.  Courtney outlines the Challenge for Week 1 as:

"Week 1 Challenge - Take the Initiative!  Look for ways to praise your husband verbally.

Praise him in front of the kids, friends, family, co-workers, on Facebook, tweet it – get praise out anyway you can! Try to mention something noteworthy he has done – in his role as provider, father, husband, lover, or friend. If the thought of trying to come up with one terrifies you, then pray right now that God will give you new eyes to see your husband as God does. Then open your mouth and say something kind and uplifting to your husband today and tomorrow and the next day until Valentine’s Day arrives!"

For me this is an easy challenge as my husband is a wonderful man!  He works harder than just about anyone I have ever known to provide for our family.  He often sacrifices what he would "like to be doing"  to do things for me and our children.  He has done more "honey do" projects that I can count and I am sure he thought were senseless just to please me (our current laundry room redo topping that list!)  He is gentle but strong and seeks God in his daily life.  I count him among my greatest blessings! I feel honored to be his wife and though we have gone through dark days during our marriage, I am so thankful that he is still my husband and I can't imagine walking this journey without him.

“The wise woman builds her house,

but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down.”
~Proverbs 14:1

Be My Valentine Marriage Challenge ~ Week 1

"Be My Valentine" ~ Marriage Challenge via Women Living Well

Be My Valentine Marriage Challenge

One of the best things about blogging  is other bloggers.  I often find inspiration from other bloggers in creative pursuits, cooking, decorating and even spiritually.  Today is no exception as Courtney, over at Women Living Well, has come up with a great idea on how to celebrate Valentine's Day for a whole month and in a more meaningful way than with just a box of chocolates and a few flowers.  She is issuing a challenge to all of us wives out there to take the focus of the big "romance" holiday off ourselves and use it to honor and build up our husbands.

Courtney writes: "Each week the challenge will be the same – to praise, encourage, inspire, admire, build up, thank and appreciate your husband. But each week I will give you different ways to express your praise. Feel free to tweak it for what you think is best for your husband.

JR Miller writes “So it is in the dark hours of a man’s life, when burdens press, when sorrows weigh like mountains upon his soul, when adversities have left him crushed and broken, or when he is in the midst of fierce struggles which try the strength of every fibre of his manhood, that all the radiance and glory of a true wife’s strengthful love shine out before his eyes. Only then does he recognize in her God’s angel of mercy.”

 Let’s be angels of mercy to our husbands. We may think they are filled with confidence and strength but they are only human. They have insecurities, fears, failures, burdens and cares that we do not always slow down to recognize. We lose our tenderness in the hustle and bustle of life and this month let’s slow down and really see our husband’s with fresh eyes."

I encourage you to use this as a building block to shore up, encourage and love on your man.  Let him know exactly what he means to you.  Show him that you do appreciate and understand all the ways he sacrifices for your family out of love. Use these exercises to strengthen  your love skills (we all need refresher courses on that from time to time!)  I feel sure that your marriage will be blessed and I can't wait to get started!  Won't you join me?

Three things will last forever--faith, hope, and love--and the greatest of these is love.

1 Corinthians 13:13

Is it to early to think about Valentines?

I think my first crafty project of the new year will be a new wreath for our front door.  It always looks kind of lonely and sad after Christmas.  Of course, for inspiration I turned to Pinterest.  I really like these wreaths and need to decide which one to tackle:

Source: sweetsomethingdesign.blogspot.com via Bella on Pinterest

Source: flowerona.com via Bella on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Bella on Pinterest

So, which do you like best?

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day one and all, but especially the man with whom I have been blessed to share my life.  He is truly my best friend, and I can't imagine walking through life without him.  He is patient with me, has more energy than I can comprehend and is the best Father I have ever seen.  I see so much of what is good in him developing in my boys and that makes my heart sing.  These last few weeks have been difficult, to say the least, but I am so thankful he has been here with me and don't know how I would have made it without his love and support. 

Happy Valentine's Day to my most amazing husband. 

Love is the condition in which the happiness

 of another person  is essential to your own."

-Robert Heinlein

Roses are Red, Violets are Blue...

and I am tired of this weather, how about you?

I am just about sick to death of hearing about cold, and snow, and ice!!!  I am so over the miserable weather that I can't even come up with anything original to blog about that doesn't contain a big dose of grumble!  I need something fun and festive!  Of course, Martha Stewart is right there with some great ideas for cute gifts for Valentine's Day (which, by the way, is ONLY a month away!).

I want to try to make some of these adorable Bath Fizzies.  They would make such a great gifts!  If you want to see some other great ideas check out Martha Stewart's 55 Valentine's Day Ideas.  Happy Crafting, y'all!

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