Day 14...Love takes Delight....

I am a slacker again.....I totally missed days 12 and 13. Ric's folks were up and I just got too busy. Make sure you go over those days and do your journal. Day 12 was letting the other win....I did that by finally giving in and cutting our boys hair. Something he has been after me to do forever and a day!!! Day 13 was fighting fair and setting boundaries in your disagreements.

Day 14 is that Love takes Delight. I love the opening line about not following your heart. This is something that I have been teaching our teens for years. The bible tells us that our hearts are desperately wicked...so why in the world would we ever choose to do that? He says that we should lead our hearts. You be in charge of your feelings...because it truly is a choice.

It is time to quit getting irritated...quit letting things get in the way...quit getting caught up in everyday life...and just learn to enjoy your spouse again. I know you can remember those feelings you had when you first got married...well they are still there. We just to need to choose to remember all of those great things and feelings and implement into your life now.


I liked this quote from the book "Today's dare may be directing you to a real and radical change of heart. For some, the move toward delight may be only a small step away. For others, it may require a giant leap from ongoing disgust...but if you've delighted before, you can be delighted again.

Today's task is to spend quality time with your spouse. Just be together. Have fun and delight in each other...I dare ya!

Day 11....Love Cherishes.....

Did you think about the two scenarios at the beginning of today's devotion? How we as a society sometimes treat our spouses as a car that we can trade in when they start falling apart..and if we view our marriages that way then we do not respect marriage. We are one part of one another...one flesh. When your husband is going through a struggle...you go through it too. When you are hurting...he hurts too! When life is good...life is just good!

Ephesians 5:28-29 says "Husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it"

Bottom line is this: when you love your spouse, you love yourself....when you mistreat your spouse, you mistreat yourself. You are one in the same! So treat your husband well, speak highly of him, respect him, cherish him, and love him!

Today's task is to meet a need of your husband...an errand, back rub, take him lunch, ...choose something that says I cherish you...and do it with a smile! I dare ya!

Day 10...Love is Unconditional...

We are a quarter of the way through the dare ladies...I am praying that you haven't thrown the towel in just yet. Stick with it...finish this race and I promise you won't be sorry!

Today's devotion is on unconditional love. Do we love our husbands with unconditional love, the way that God desires for us to? Do we love them based on what they can do...how sweet they are...if they take the trash out? The bible says we are to love our husbands with agape love...a love that is selfless and unconditional. Agape love is in sickness and health love...for richer or poorer love, for better or worse love. It is the only kind of love that is true love....because it's God's kind of Love. He loves us even when we are so unlovable...He is faithful to us when we are faithless. I pray that we can love our husbands this way. That no matter what, we love them period.

Today's task is to do something out of the ordinary for your husband today that says you love them...just 'cause! I hope you have fun thinking of something out of the ordinary to do for them...I dare ya!

Day 8ish...9..Love makes good impressions

Yesterdays blog was about jealousy and I slept all afternoon Sunday...are you jealous??? No seriously, I didn't get to write because I was super busy on Sunday and just plum didn't get to it. I promise this week will get better for sure. I hope you all completed yesterday's task and got the lighters out and burnt that list of negative things.

Today's devotion is on making good impressions....looking at the way we greet our spouse's on a regular basis. Are we negative...selfish...cold....mean??? Do we greet them with a smile...talk warmly to them on the phone...hug them after a long day at work? I hope that we can take a look at the way we greet our husbands on a regular basis. I know that I can do better in this area...not that I try to be ugly or rude when I greet him...but sometimes I am so caught up in the kids...or chores...that I overlook him. I hope that this is a reminder to me that I need to take 10 seconds to make sure I leave a lasting impression with him in the way that I greet him.

Today's task is to give your husband a great greeting today...whether you just tweak it a little or have to do a major overhaul to do it right...just do it. I dare ya!

Keep at it ladies and don't give up. The enemy wants us to quit..to give in and be defeated, but I know someone who wants us to keep going...to keep in the game...and to take this dare seriously. I think I will go with Him...I hope you will too!

Day 6ish.....7...Love is not Irritable and Love believes the best....

Well, I totally dropped the ball yesterday with not posting. I was at our Holiday Market and in the craziness of all of that I did not do my job so I apologize and I will touch on yesterdays just briefly.

Yesterday would have been a good one for me to have done. I have been under more stress this last week than I ever have been in my life. Starting a company is no joke...and I take my hat off to all you Moms who work outside of the home. I honestly don't know how you do it! I sat on my couch last night and cried to my Mother in law telling her how hard it had been to be away from my kids this week and that I had felt like I wasn't doing them justice. So needless to say...my irritability was high because of my stress!! I hope you guys got to do the task and made your list

Today's devotion is on love believing the BEST! I loved the explanation of the Appreciation room and the Depreciation room. There are so many things that we love about our husbands and I know that when we make our list we will probably come up with a lot of reasons. There are also a lot of areas where we may not appreciate them....which room do you dwell in the most? Are you pitching a tent in the Depreciation room....waiting for their next slip up so you can write one more thing up? Do we bring those negative things they have done up every time we have a disagreement? Do we keep score? The statement about how spending time in the Depreciation room will kill marriages was so true. Every marriage that fails around us is because the negative was thought of more often than the positive...at least on one side of the marriage.

Love believes the best about people...it causes us to give our spouses the benefit of the doubt...to not have negative assumptions. When our worst hopes are proven to be true than loves makes every effort to deal with the issue and move on....to focus on the positive!

Pray for your husband.....and keep writing "Covered in Love" over those negative things! Pitch your tent in the Appreciation Room...make it home...go ahead and hang some pictures in there friend. There is so much good to come. Think on the positive and throw out all negative thoughts!

Our task today is to make two lists: One about all the positive things about your man and the other with all the negative. Now put those sheets somewhere secret to be used another day. Sometime today, pick something positive from your first list and thank your husband for having that characteristic! Keep it up ladies...I dare ya!

Day 5~ Love is not RUDE....

I hope things are going good for you ladies and that you have dug in and are giving this 100%!! On of my good friends got a "talking to" by her sweet Momma and she said this, "If you are going to do this...than give it all you got"! Those may not have been her exact words, but they were good enough for us to realize that we have to give this our all.....to get after it...to dig deep......to commit....to "get 'er done"!!

Today's devotion is about being rude...which is described as "unnecessarily saying or doing things that are unpleasant for another person to be around". As I was reading over the book so many things popped into my mind about how I act rude to my husband. How I get irritated with him and then proceed to be rude to him or snap at him. When I am disciplining one of my children for having the wrong attitude towards something...I tell them this "You control how you respond...how your respond is your responsibility and it is not their fault". They like to blame each other for their bad attitudes and rudeness...and yet, I can do the same thing! If the trash doesn't get taken out....rude. If I feel like I have done it all on my own for the day.....rude. If I have had a tough day....rude. If my jeans were too tight.....rude. Do you see where I am going? I am rude to people when my circumstances cause me to have a bad attitude...and then I take it out on those I love!

I loved the quote that says "I value you enough to exercise some self control around you"...cause lets be real...we do it around others. We should treat our spouses like they are the most important people to us. We should have self control around them....learn to use our words and not be rude...to have patience...to love...to be kind. They all build upon one another!

I will leave you with the three guiding principles to etiquette:

Guard the Golden Rule: treat your husband the way you want to be treated!

No double standards: Be considerate to your husband as you are to strangers and to your friends!

Honor Requests: Consider what you husband asks you to do or not do...if you don't know...ask!

This is a tough one ladies and one we may not want to do, but ask your husband today what 3 things that you do that irritate him or bother him. Do this in the right spirit...don't defend yourself. Ask him and then be done with it. Take the things he has said to heart and try to not do those things!!


I wanted to leave you with a video that really blessed my heart...to remind you all that HE is with you....everywhere. He is in your marriage...in you home...in your finances...in your jobs....in your family. Find comfort in that my friends...and trust HIM!

Day 4~ Love is Thoughtful.......

Wow, what a great week it has been already! I have been able to really, truly communicate with my husband this week! Has it been difficult??? Sure, some things have been tough...but I have constantly been conscious of how I react to him!

Love is thoughtful. When I read this I thought, "I got this in the bag....I am always thoughtful with him"! Boy, are my toes hurting right now!!! As I read through the section where he talks about the husband not seeing that the wife may need help while she is doing ten other things...I was just a "amen" ing.....until I hit the next paragraph where it talked about women speaking between the lines...that we like to ..uhm...hint! I thought back to several conversations where my husband would say "I can't read your mind, and no I don't see things that need to be done...you need to tell me!" and when he has said "quit talking in circles and tell me what you really mean"!! I am the queen of the hint drop....and I don't like it. And if we are being honest here, I get ill when he doesn't take my hints! So I am going to try my hardest to speak my heart...my desires...my wishes without leaving a trail of breadcrumbs for him to figure it out, cause I got news for you ladies....he hasn't figured it out yet!! I am excited to see how it goes with me thinking:)

I loved the part where it said "love thinks before speaking. It filters words through a grid of truth and kindness"! That my friends is powerful and something that I want to do with every relationship that I have! Think about how we can demonstrate love to our men....what needs he may have....what way's we can communicate better! Great Thinking produces great marriages!!

Today's task is to call your husband today and only ask how they are doing and if they need anything! Enjoy talking to you husband today and being thoughtful...I dare ya!

Day 3~ Love is not Selfish.....

"Love does not seek it's own" 1 Corinthians 13:5

Wow...today is a good one. Not because I get to spend money, but because it reminded me of how selfish being selfish is!! I think in my world I think I am so "selfless" because I put the needs of my kids and husband first...or so I think I do. Today's devotion showed me that sometimes I do things for my own well being...that sometimes I do something...even if it's good...just to benefit myself!

I thought the questions were great that he asked:

Do I truly want what's best for my husband?

Do I want them to feel loved by me?

Do they believe I have their best interest in mind?

Do they see me as looking out for myself?

I hope that my husband knows that I have his best interest at heart and that I am looking out for us and not me! I know that today I will make an extra effort to make sure of these things in a big way....and I can't wait to buy him a gift!!

So today's task is to buy your husband something that tells him that you are thinking about him! Have fun shopping....I dare ya!

Day 2 ~Love is Kind......

Update: I fixed it so you can comment as Anonymous.....it just lets you comment without having a google account..you just skip a step!


Wow....what an eye opener day 1 was....I honestly didn't realize how hard it was to be positive all the time. I would seriously catch myself about to say something and would tell myself in my head...."no negative...no negative"! I know I am not a negative person per say.....but I found out that I can be a whole lot nicer and that the majority of the time I get irritated...it's my fault!! Day 2 builds completely on Day 1.

Kindness. I love the verse in the book that says " She opens her mouth in wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue" Prov 31:26. We all love our husbands and one of the things that drew us to each other was kindness. It was easy to be kind when you were dating.....no kids...no bills..no stress....no outside conflict, but now it's harder to be kind. Isn't it sad that we let all of the things of this world cause us to be mean and ugly to our husbands?? I know I do!

Today's task is two fold....not only can we not say anything negative, but we have to do an act of kindness towards them today. It can be in words or something that you do for them. I am excited to hear how kind we all are today and how we go out of our way to be kind. Just think ladies, by the end of this we are going to be the most positive people around.....can we do it??? I think we can.....I dare ya!

Day 1 ~ Love is Patient

You may wonder why I named the blog this....well, I'm not sure why I did, but I believe that is what God wanted. I opened my book this morning and the verse in the intro is 1 Corinthians 13:13: "Now these three remain: Faith, Hope, and Love. But the Greatest of these is Love!"


Does God have a sense of humor or what. Of all days for us to start...it's on a Sunday. The day that we, unfortunately, are hurrying to get out of the house. The day that clothes have to be ironed and teeth brushed..ok we do that everyday but for some reason, Sunday's are more stressful. I believe Satan uses these everyday things to raise our stress levels on Sunday. We bicker more...snap at the kids...and get to church in a not so joyful mood. Not every Sunday is like this...but some are. So I believe this day is not a coincidence. It's the day that you are with one another for most of the day...it wouldn't be has hard to not say anything negative on a work day when you are only together for a short time....but a Sunday...it's all day!

SO ladies...can we be patient with our men?? Patience will make us wise...make our homes more peaceful! I loved the line in the book that says "Patience helps you give your spouse permission to be human!"....we all want people to be patient with us, but yet our patience has worn thin with others. Let's be patient today when the Falcons are playing and we would rather him be taking out the trash. When he decides that a nap is necessary, but we still have to take care of everyday things. Say NOTHING negative today....NOTHING. I am seriously sweating while I write this...can it be done???? Yes it can, but not in my own strength. Trust God today to help you be patient with your spouse! I dare ya!!!

It's on.....

Hey Ladies! Are you as excited as I am about starting this up?? Stephanie Rainwater had the idea to start doing the Love Dare to her husband and I told her I would do it too...that it couldn't hurt and that I knew it would only make our marriages stronger. After going to church and speaking with several ladies the idea of us all doing it together was set in her heart...and I believe it was a God thing.

I know that some of us may have great marriages...some may have bad....some may need a little tweaking.....some may need an overhaul. The neat thing is, no matter where you are at in your marriage....it can always improve. I believe that God is going to use this to not only strengthen our marriages, but our church as well.

I think that we should use this blog as our sounding board...a place to share how the "Love Dare" is changing our marriage. I do not want it to be a place that we come to bash our husbands are to tear them down....but a place for us to grow...to share our hearts and the things that God is doing in us! I think it will be neat to show our husbands this when this is all said and done. For this to be done correctly it is to be done in "secret" if you want to call it that....that our husbands should no nothing about it. They shouldn't see the book...the website...nothing!

We are starting on Sunday the 8th and every day I will post what that day's "task" is to be and share a little about it. That is where you come in. You will have an opportunity to share comments about things you have done that worked...ideas....reactions from our husbands! This will also be a source for us to guide us in our prayer lives for one another because for this to work, we need to be bathed in prayer and be praying for one another.

I love you ladies and am beyond excited about what our GREAT God is going to do! So will you join me in this journey??? I dare you!

*you have to create a profile to be able to comment...it's super easy you just need to follow the directions...if you are having problems doing it then email me a pmbclovedare@gmail.com and I will help you!