Weekend Kindness
Reaching Others Through Kindness

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Words of love are great, but showing your heart says it best.

There’s much to be said for a little consideration and unselfishness. Remember how passionate we all were about every little detail concerning each other in the early days of engagement and newlywed life? We all prefer being seen over being invisible, and being cherished over being taken for granted.

If rescuing the beauty is tantamount to winning the war, then let me remind you that it’s the battles which wage a successful campaign, one bleeding heart at a time!

A few simple ideas:

• Save the last piece of dessert for him
• Warm the car up for her on a cold winter morning, scrape the frost off the windows, etc
• Bring him or her a cold/hot drink when you know it would be appreciated, without asking first
• Remember birthdays and anniversaries
• Bring home his favorite magazine
• Help carry in the groceries
• Help clear off the supper table
• Rinse out the tub after your showers and baths, and the sink after shaving
• Say please and thank-you
• Give an unsolicited shoulder rub
• Grab your wife and waltz her around the house
• Hang out in the kitchen with her
• Hang out in the garage or shop with him

When my husband helps me in the kitchen, I feel so cherished! It says to me: “I’d rather be with you than snoozing in the recliner or surfing the net, etc.” Similarly, when I’m not afraid to dig in and get dirty helping my man with his truck projects, or working cattle, he’s practically giddy. You’d think I was his girlfriend all over again!

When we take a special and unselfish interest in our spouses’ lives it speaks volumes. It’s too easy after several years of marriage and two or three kids to relax and grow almost numb to your partner’s passions and desires. Examine your heart and motives. Could you care less about their interests? If so, chances are good that you’re too immersed in your own.

And don’t forget the main things most men and women want are pretty simple. A little extra love can go a long way. What speaks love to you?

Hubby’s and my love languages are very different.  And I’m no good at speaking his love language: Acts of Service.  A little brainstorming is in order:  How do I show love to my husband when I’m terrible at serving him?

My thoughts are below.  What ideas can you give me?

Food

The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, right?  Maybe I should focus on having a hot meal prepared for him when he gets home from work.  This will take some creativity since I generally pick him up from work.  It’ll have to be something I can cook quickly or that reheats well.

Cleanliness

Staying current on housework, providing a calm, organized environment for him will not only show him love, but will help me feel more collected.  Any tips on getting and staying organized with space?  I’m no good at the “a place for everything and everything in its place” principle.

Sacrificial Giving

I can’t stand tattoos.  I don’t think there’s anything wrong with them, they’re just not very attractive.  But hubby wants a tattoo so badly.  For Christmas, I got him a gift card to a tattoo parlor.  This is one example, but I can’t think of any other bits of sacrificial giving, can anyone help me?

This is about as much as I can think of when it comes to serving my husband, but I know there has to be more to it.  Any other ideas when it comes to service?  Thanks, everyone!

One of the most difficult things to articulate is the feeling you get when you are apart from someone you feel that you cannot live without.  The ache, the emotion deep down that, even though it has been only a little while, seems like it will consume your every thought.

Life is full of change, and yet the bonds that we form can be long lasting, and so it becomes necessary to express those feelings to retain those bonds.

And so, without further ado, 31 ways to say “I Miss You”:

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It was late when the phone rang. I was already in bed, but I knew it was my best friend, J.

Claudia, this is J. I’m getting married!

J, I am so excited for you! How did he ask?

The conversation was short. It was late and we would talk tomorrow when I went to meet with J for our weekly Bible study.

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There’s a special breed of man out there, a man that is unlike any other.  He won’t be swayed by watching hours of sports, or wooed with the latest hot rod. He likes to spend most of his time away from the beach, under the glow of an artificial sun.

You love him, but you can’t understand why he’s drawn to the clicking of keys, the fluid motion of the mouse or the whirr of the DVD-ROM drive. And so, I’ve prepared a list of 101 ways that you can show love to the geek in your life:

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Sometimes we learn the most when times are bad, not when they’re good.  Each of us is impacted in different ways by different events.

• When I was a kid, I didn’t like the way some of the older children in church treated me, so when I grew up I made sure to treat them well.
• When I chose to go to summer camp instead of my family trip and I look back on that decision, I remember that family is more important than a girlfriend.

That latter touches on the subject at hand– the impact of love on our lives. You see love impacts how we think, what we choose and how we act. It impacts how merciful we are, and what we overlook. It can make us value certain things more than others.

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At 13 years old, I went through a True Love Waits class and wore a purity ring. I decided to save my first kiss until marriage. I was made fun of many times for that decision. My friends would ask me, “But what if you marry a guy and he turns out to be a bad kisser?” I’ve also heard people say that you don’t buy a car without test-driving it first, so why would you get married without a little test-run? “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” Matthew 5:8, 10-12. Because of my stand for purity, I was able to witness to the people I went to school with and I will be rewarded for my perseverance. G. K. Chesterton was a great Christian who said, “Jesus promised his disciples three things: that they would be completely fearless, absurdly happy, and in constant trouble.”
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