Marriage Mondays: Encouraging Respect for Your Husband

Photo by Emma Bauso on Pexels.com

This valentines day, show love to your husband or boyfriend in the way he’ll appreciate most. According to Dr. Emerson Eggerichs in his bestselling book “Love and Respect,” women desire to be loved, while men (also desire to be loved obviously) but they desire respect more so.

So, lets discuss some encouraging respect for your husband by showing them we respect them.

What is His Love Language?

First, it’s important to know what his love language is. According to Gary Chapman, bestselling author of “The 5 Love Languages” there are five love languages: words of affirmation, physical touch, quality time, acts of service, and receiving gifts.

Does your husband seem to enjoy gifts? Give your gift with an encouraging love note (we’ll get to said words later). Or does he get excited when you spend time with him? Speak some encouraging words to him when you’re alone with him.

Knowing your husband’s love language is a special touch to add when encouraging respect for your husband. But, as I mentioned above, its important to know what encouraging words for your husband, which leads to the next point.

What do You Tell Him?

Decide what you will say. Don’t write a cookie-cutter, fortune cookie message. Be specific about what you admire or respect about him. According to Dr. Eggerichs, men desire to be admired and respected.

Think up some reasons why you admire him. If you’re having some trouble thinking of things, go back to when you were engaged: what did you admire about him? What drew you to him?

Some ideas:

This is why I respect you….

I respect you because…

I’m so glad you chose me to be your wife

I’m proud to be your wife because…

I believe in you.

You’re the strongest (and/or sexiest) man I know

You’re such a great protector

You’re such a hard worker because…

I appreciate how hard you work every day for our family

You’re the most hardworking man I know because…

Say these things or make little notes for him to find (lunchbox, work desk, etc). But why are these notes based on respect or admiration? Well, most men desire respect more than love. Not to say they don’t want love, but most men want respect more.

After surveying hundreds of men, Shaunti Feldhahn author of “For Women Only” found that 74% of men said they would rather feel unloved than disrespected. Respect is a big deal for men. If you want to show your man how much you adore him, show him some respect.

Conclusion

Men endure a lot-as the leaders of the home they carry a heavy burden. It’s important to uplift and encourage the men we love in our lives. Not just our husbands, but also our brothers, and fathers or father-figures. On a side note, another way to show respect for your husband is to show submission to him. You can read more about submission in my article “what does submission mean in marriage” here.

I love gassing up my husband. No one should be better at gassing up my man than me. Surely there will be others who will encourage him-whether at work or elsewhere. So, make sure it’s you, his leading lady, who is giving him the utmost encouragement and respect he craves!

Blessings,

M/M

P.S.

Check out the aforementioned books below to revamp and grow your marriage!

How Soon is Too Soon to Propose?

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

When you meet that special someone, most of us are already imagining our wedding day with them and  ensuing future together. But, if you just met the person recently, you (and your friends and family) will want to know when is a good time to get engaged? And, how soon is too soon?

Well, there are many things to consider before the engagement.

Is This Just Lust?

According to certified matchmaker Shilpa Gandhi, its important to consider that marrying within a few weeks or days of meeting someone may be a product of attraction and list for each other and not loving commitment.

So, before you elope after a few days of meeting someone make sure you take the time to get to know them because it may be lust. Be a little investigator: asking friends and family about them. See more in my post on questions to ask before marriage here.

Important things to consider:

-family in the future

-similar values/religious views?

-finances/work (including debt and bills)

-living situation (now and after marriage?)

I Have to be Sure, Though!

Shilpa Gandhi says 3-6 months is a good time between meeting and engagement. However, there are some experts that believe it’s best to wait a few years before engagement. I disagree. You don’t have to spend years living life with someone you already know you want to spend the rest of your life with instead of marrying them.

Thinking you must wait to see how they react to death, or see how they respond to jealousy, or this or that. You can get that information from their family or friends.

But no matter how many questions you ask, you won’t get those answers until years of experience with them. So, if you and your partner agree on values, life goals, expectations, finances and there are no red flags, why not just get married?

There are so many things you learn about someone after marriage and living life with them. Plus, wouldn’t you rather go through the trials of life married with a life partner to be there with you?

Conclusion

Yes, I understand there are instances where its better to wait (i.e., finances, school, etc.). But please consider this: life is going to happen anyway. You will never truly have everything perfect.

If you’re a Christian, consider that if you’ve given your life to the Lord, He may have you experience a short or a long engagement. He told me my engagement would be short (met in January engaged in June). So be prayerful and fast about a timeline. And allow Him to confirm (relationship and engagement) so you don’t get your hopes up and jump the gun.  

Blessings,

M/M

Marriage Gym: Is Work Getting in the Way of Intimacy?

We all have to work, right? I mean we gotta work to survive and thrive. Some of us have jobs that we really love, and some of us have jobs (or school) that can be pretty demanding. There is nothing wrong with having a job that you love and are passionate about. But there is always a danger of work getting in the way of intimacy with your partner.

I’ve experienced this with my husband. He loves his job in insurance, but he is in a season where he works 12-13 hour days. His work schedule can be pretty hard because we’re not spending as much time together than we usually do. So we have had to work a little harder to promote intimacy with each other. Here are a few things we’ve done to encourage intamcy and continue to strengthen our marriage.

1. Communicate Your Love

Like the late songbird Whitney Houston sang, “how do I know that he really loves me?” You won’t know unless your told! My husband and I need reassurance that we still love and are attracted to each other. You can do this by leaving little notes for your partner to see: write a love message on a sticky note, or text them a sweet message, or surprise them with a small gift or card. A little goes a long way. Leave no room for speculation or doubt by telling your partner directly you love them.

2. Carve Out Time for Each Other

I know there can be times where it feels like we literally have no time to even breathe or eat, but its important to make time for the ones we love. When there’s a will, there’s a way. Even if its just an hour or two to share a cup of coffee together in the morning, or a saturday night to watch a movie together, or do something new together. Make the time. There’s an old saying that goes like this: love is spelled: T-I-M-E.

3. Cuddle More

Studies show cuddling is a great way to deepen love between spouses. Cuddling (hugging as well) releases the brain hormone oxytocin. This hormone makes you feel a connection with your spouse and deepens intimacy. Dr. Katherine Harmon studies the power of touch and found that cuddling also is shown to reduce anxiety and stress by increasing brain hormones like oxcytocin and dopamine (which makes you feel good) and lowers cortisol (a stress hormone)which could give you a better sleep. So if youre feeling especially disconnected from your spouse, get your cuddle (or hugging) on! Cuddle your spouse in the evenings and mornings before you start your day.

Intimacy is so important in marriage. When we’re married and just living our lives, its easy to get comfortable with our spouses and feel like we dont have to work too hard to woo our spouse anymore. Dont fall for that trap! Work to continue to woo your spouse and love on your spouse. But, intimacy is important outside of marriage too: if you have a boyfriend or friend or family member you’re not spending as much time with, find time to reach out or spend time with them whenever possible.

Blessings,

M/M

How I Knew My Husband was the “One.”

In today’s day and age, there are so many ways to meet people: social media, online groups, dating apps or sites. How do we find “the one?” Well for me, God told me when and how I would meet my husband.

What??

I know, it sounds wild, but its true! In fact, God gave me multiple confirmations that Jason was the one for me. With all the methods available to us today its so important to be led by God as to who “the One” is. In this article, I’ll give you three ways God can show you who is “the One.”

Three ways to Know He/She is “The One”

1. The When and How

When I was single, I spent a lot of time in prayer, and bible study. This allowed me to grow in my relationship with God. I felt lead to pray for my future husband. He told me in November 2019 that I would meet my spouse the following January 2020, we would meet on Facebook and we would get married fast. I wrote this down in my journal and just knew it was a fact. I knew I would meet my husband the following January. Thanksgiving 2019, it felt like it would be the last thanksgiving I would have with my family in a while. I knew I would be moving from Maryland the following year and getting married. And I had so much peace with that.

2. Peace

When Jason and I got engaged, some people did not approve of our marriage. Rightfully so, we had only met in January and were getting engaged in June. I understood their hesitation, and even fear. But with Jason, we clicked on so many things like our desire to have children, our desire to live in Florida, we both shared the same Christian faith, and we both had similar financial goals. There were no red flags either. He is a genuine, kind, intelligent, hardworking man with a vision and goals for himself that I wanted to be apart of. He was my best friend, and I loved being with him. He pushed me to be better. I was confident he would take care of me, and our future children. I knew without a shadow of doubt he would never harm me. In spite of all the chaos in the world, as long as I was able to be with him, I would be okay.

3. Opposition

I knew my husband was the one because we had some chaos during our engagement. Don’t get me wrong, God works in decency and in order. Satan will often attack you before you reach your promised blessing. Look at the people of Israel, as they travelled to the promised land, the surrounding nations gathered together to fight against God’s people (Joshua 11:5). The people of Israel had to depend on the Lord to get through this. God is a god of love but he is also a god of war. He will fight for His people if you trust him. I had multiple instances of opposition from people in my life. Of course it sucked, but because I knew what God told me I used that opposition as further confirmation that Jason was the one. Although there will be opposition, you will still have peace knowing your spouse is “the one.”

“Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure,” Isaiah 46:10

God knows our end from our beginning. Like every area of your life, its so important to be led by God in your love life.

While God gives us free will, he also has a perfect will for our lives. I wanted God’s perfect will for me, so I invited him into my love life and had him lead me to my spouse. God surely can tell you when you’ll meet your spouse like He did for me, or even who He is. But He can show you in other ways too: if you meet a guy who’s mature, loves the Lord, respects you, works hard, and has goals for himself and his future you can get with then you’ll know he is the one. But if you see multiple red flags, don’t feel respected by him, he isn’t mature, you disagree on key things like family planning, children, financial or career goals, or family issues then maybe its a sign to take a step back. God is the ultimate matchmaker. Allow him to write your love story. I promise you won’t be disappointed.