On Building a Better Marriage {with a Note for Men}
I found this morning’s note left on my nightstand a bit humorous:
Hope you have a better day today.
I love you.
Peace out
Love Joe
Several weeks ago he started leaving them for me. It hasn’t cost him one cent. He’s used the letterhead notebooks he had stuffed in my stocking this past Christmas that he’d received from a customer. Underneath Upholstery Limited, LLC and its contact info he scrawls his love. Surprisingly, they’re never the same. Sometimes he includes Scripture. Always, his love.
It’s not that he’s never written a note to me before. He’s always carefully handpicked greeting cards. But through the years the love notes tend to fade away. The consistently written notes of late couldn’t have come at a more perfect time.
Our marriage hasn’t been immune to difficulty. No marriage is. But we’d hit a rocky place. Rocks in uncharted waters forced us to dig deep. And I’m forever grateful for those rocks. In the most difficult of places you can find an intimacy rare. Romantic newlyweds cannot know it. It requires a clinging together as if you’re holding on for your very life.
In the Christian walk, when we encounter difficulties we’re given the opportunity to walk our talk. And why is it that after years of learning the Scriptures and quoting them to others so quickly we find ourselves taken back when reality hits and we must walk those Scriptures out? We’ve been given the instruction manual yet we refuse to use it. And around the mountain we go, wandering in the wilderness like the children of Israel.
But what happens when we become doers of the Word? When we let the Lover of our souls draw us close during those times of struggle? When we cling to Him in desperation knowing that we need Him more than the very air we breathe we find intimacy more beautiful than any artist could paint, than the most romantic lover could portray.
We’re given the perfect picture of marriage through Christ and His love for His Church. His love letters keep us breathing, keep us alive. And this is what a man does for His wife when he pours out his love with ink. It doesn’t have to be ink. It could be in the ways he knows her spilling out into her cup of coffee just the way she likes it. It doesn’t have to be the price of a dozen red roses. Just his time.
Husbands, what she’s really crying out for is a simple act of love. An intentional act of letting her know you see her, you hear her, you love her. And it could be written down on a scrap of paper. Because, really, is there a better way to let her know?
I’ve kept the letters I’ve received over the past few weeks. I’ll cherish them forever. They’re building a stronger marriage. They’re stepping stones, a mosaic of unity and intimacy. It’s a two way street, I well know. Give and take. Not at all 50 – 50 as Ann Says. It’s an intentional giving when it’s needed, not necessarily when deserved.
And men, I’ll let you in on a little secret: it’s worth the payoff!
So here’s a suggestion for this Valentine’s Day. DaySpring has a collection of Mr. & Mrs. gifts including this Two in One Inspirational Journal:
This had our names on it!!! Well, really, it does. Mr. & Mrs.
But you can start today. Even if it’s written on an Upholstery Limited, LLC notepad, your words can be just the thing that sparks a dying flame in your marriage. Even if they’re corny.
Especially if they’re corny.
If we want better marriages it’s time we follow the instructions written in the greatest Love Letter of all times. And isn’t that the best way to love—to write our love letter down?
Love is always hard because dying to self is, but I want to do it—because I want you.
We don’t have to try to arrive anywhere or climb anything or try to figure out how to make it—
Just make our lives a living sacrifice and let the days makes us like gold, to arrive before His throne.
**I’ve received no compensation for my shout out to Day Spring for their amazing Valentine’s gifts. But I certainly wouldn’t refuse them.
It¦s really a great and helpful piece of info. I am satisfied that you simply shared this helpful information with us. Please stay us up to date like this. Thank you for sharing.
I’ll right away grab your rss feed as I can not find your e-mail subscription link or e-newsletter service. Do you’ve any? Please let me know so that I could subscribe. Thanks.
There is noticeably a bunch to know about this. I consider you made certain good points in features also.
It’s really a cool and useful piece of information. I am
glad that you simply shared this helpful info with us. Please stay us informed like this.
Thank you for sharing.
Today, while I was at work, my cousin stole my apple ipad and tested to see if it can survive a 40 foot drop, just so she can be a
youtube sensation. My apple ipad is now broken and she has
83 views. I know this is entirely off topic but I had to share it with someone!
I am now not positive the place you are getting your information, but good topic.
I needs to spend some time studying more or understanding more.
Thank you for great info I used to be looking for this
information for my mission.
There is certainly a lot to learn about this topic. I like all the points you made.
Heya i’m for the first time here. I came across this board and I find It truly useful & it helped me out a lot.
I hope to give something back and help others like you helped
me.
What’s up, everything is going nicely here and ofcourse every one is sharing data, that’s in fact fine,
keep up writing.
Hey very nice blog!
I have learn several just right stuff here. Certainly value bookmarking for revisiting.
I surprise how a lot effort you place to make this kind of great informative
site.
Hey There. I discovered your blog using msn. That is a very smartly written article.
I will make sure to bookmark it and come back to read extra of your useful info.
Thank you for the post. I will certainly return.
Keep on writing, great job!
I’ve been surfing online more than three hours today, yet
I never found any interesting article like yours. It is pretty worth enough for me.
Personally, if all webmasters and bloggers made good content
as you did, the web will be much more useful than ever before.
Good article. I definitely love this site. Keep it up!
What you typed made a bunch of sense. But, what about this?
suppose you added a little information? I am not saying your content isn’t good, but what
if you added something that grabbed folk’s attention? I mean On Building a
Better Marriage with a Note for Men | Lines In The Sand | Insert Grace Here is kinda vanilla.
You should glance at Yahoo’s front page and see how they create post titles to get viewers interested.
You might add a video or a pic or two to grab people interested about everything’ve
got to say. Just my opinion, it would make your posts a little bit more
interesting.
Hello, i believe that i noticed you visited my blog
so i came to return the prefer?.I am trying to in finding things to improve my site!I suppose its ok to make use of a few of your concepts!!
Thanks for every other excellent post. The place else may anybody get that kind of information in such an ideal means of writing?
I’ve a presentation subsequent week, and I’m at the look for
such info.
Currently it sounds like Expression Engine is the preferred blogging
platform available right now. (from what I’ve read) Is that
what you are using on your blog?
Hello! Quick question that’s completely off topic.
Do you know how to make your site mobile friendly? My blog looks
weird when browsing from my iphone 4. I’m trying to find a theme or plugin that
might be able to correct this problem. If you have any suggestions, please
share. Cheers!
It’s arduous to seek out knowledgeable individuals on this subject, however you sound like you realize what you’re speaking about! Thanks
Hello there! This is kind of off topic but I need some help from an established blog.
Is it very difficult to set up your own blog? I’m not very techincal but I can figure things out pretty quick.
I’m thinking about setting up my own but I’m not sure where to begin. Do you have any points or suggestions?
Many thanks
I am curious to find out what blog platform you’re using?
I’m experiencing some minor security problems with my latest website and I would like to find something more secure.
Do you have any suggestions?
Having read this I believed it was extremely enlightening.
I appreciate you taking the time and energy to put this short article together.
I once again find myself spending a significant amount of time both reading and leaving
comments. But so what, it was still worthwhile!
Does your site have a contact page? I’m having a tough time locating it but, I’d like to send you an e-mail.
I’ve got some creative ideas for your blog you
might be interested in hearing. Either way, great blog and I look forward to seeing it grow over time.
I’m not that much of a online reader to be honest but your blogs really nice, keep it up!
I’ll go ahead and bookmark your website to come back
in the future. Many thanks