I am joining Courtney and all the other ladies from Women Living Well http://womenlivingwell.org and doing the Valentines Marriage Challenge. For me this week is proving to be a challenge as it is about praising our husbands.
This is a challenge…
I am very fortunate, my husband doesn’t disappear to the pub for hours on end every night. He doesn’t shout at me or call me names. He is hard-working and is very good with his money. I know that we have savings for a rainy day, university for the children and our retirement. He is good with the children and is generally very patient with them.
So what’s the challenge you might ask???
Me.
I am not naturally a person who notices the good qualities in a person. I am quick to notice a persons faults but slow to notice their strengths. My primary love languages are Quality Time and Acts of Service. While he’s never read the book or answered the online questionnaire I believe that hubby’s are Words of Affirmation and Physical Touch.
Not quite polls apart but enough that our way of showing our love to each other could be ‘lost in translation’
So this challenge is perfect for me as it will challenge me to see my hubby’s strengths and to actively find ways of expressing praise to him. (My challenge with praise is that it can feel false or not genuine.) So I need to praise him/ encourage him/ affirm him in a way that he understands and in a way that I feel is genuine.
How am I doing so far???
Well…. I’ve thanked him for things that he has done (but I suppose that is me noticing when he speaks my language ) and I’ve… um… I’ve…
Ok I’m not doing so well. I’d better go and research some ideas about how I can speak into his Love Language and affirm him.
This really is going to be a challenge!
If you are doing the challenge, let me know how it is going. Or leave a comment below about how you affirm or encourage your spouse.
Somedays by C 