The year 2015 is going to be a year of divine resurrection. God will visit and breathe new breath into every dying situation in our lives. Our marriages, our relationships, businesses, ministries, visions, and goals are going to be re-awakened. Everything that we have deemed impossible, untouchable, dead, and that we have given up on is going to be resurrected.
2015 is going to be a year of divine resurrection. Be hopeful, be expectant. Everything that the enemy has stolen from you will be restored! Happy New Year! See you at the top!
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In the last few weeks, I have been on a mission to getting myself back in shape and to a healthy weight. It has been a very difficult process for me as I have to get up early in the morning to work out while most people are still sleeping.
My workout partner aka coach aka trainer is also my husband and no one pushes me like he does. Usually after each work out I am worn out, have no energy or desire to talk and many parts of my body sing choruses of pain. I was having a conversation with a work friend of mine who is also on the same journey. I shared with her that I did 6o burpies that morning and felt great because I was able to complete my sets without giving up, I also shared with her all the different weight lifting exercises that I have been doing and how sore I was. During our conversation, I told her that I was getting fit on the inside. I said, I might not look fit on the outside but my insides are getting ripped. We both laughed hysterically at my statement and she looked at me and said, you know, “That is how God transforms us.” When we focus so much on the end goal or the place of perfection, we sometimes forget the process, which is the work that God is doing in us RIGHT NOW. The idea that our walk with God is not a final destination, but a journey holds true. Living a disciplined life, and walking our faith-talk with integrity is not an easy thing to do. But, God is our coach; he coaches us on the inside. While people might judge how we look on the outside, we must remember that we are getting ripped internally. You might be judged for getting divorced, failing a class, losing a business, putting on weight, getting pregnant out of wedlock, losing your home, being a single parent, etc. But, you know that this journey is not about anyone, it is about you and God. You’re not running anyone’s race, so focus on you! We all have things in our lives that we want to change, we might want our marriages to be different, it might be our parenting, or even our attitudes. We must not lose faith or hope. We must keep going back to the SOURCE, our life coach. Draw strength from God, knowing that he is the one that transforms. Don’t allow what people say make you lose hope; every journey starts with a single step. Whatever you want to change, whether it is losing weight, starting a business venture, returning to school, strengthening your marriage, walking away from unhealthy people and relationships, or becoming a more present parent. Know that it is a journey. On some days I do not feel like getting up to workout. Some workout days I feel very accomplished and other days, I feel frustrated at how unfit I am. All days are not great and fun days. But I am learning to enjoy and embrace the journey. There will be days filled with disappointments when I step on the scale and my weight in pounds is not affirming. For you it might be someone saying no, receiving a letter of disappointment, failing an entrance exam, not being able to raise capital as quickly as possible, or even the knowledge and awareness that your relationship isn’t what you hoped and planned it to be. I encourage you to hang in, hang on. Rome was not built in a day. Keep at it, do not give up, keep pursuing, keep praying, keep hope and faith alive and PUSH yourself. People might not see it now, they might judge your current outward state, but you know that you are getting ripped on the inside! Your affirmation is that you are getting stronger and stronger with each challenge, with each no, with each disappointment. I know that in the next 6 months, if I do not give up and I keep working out and eating right, my inner ripped self will show itself on the outside, the scales will reflect my cumulative hard work, and I might not have reached my goal yet, but will be able to confidently declare “I’m not where I need to be, but I am no longer where I used to be!” “And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns” (Philippians 1:6). On March 23, 2012 I received the best birthday gift ever, I found out that I was pregnant. At my first Ob/Gyn appointment my doctor informed me that I was doing well but expressed some concern about the size of my thyroid. She ordered a blood test which came back normal but she wasn't satisfied, so she ordered a thyroid ultrasound and referred me to a specialist. The ultrasound revealed that I had some weirdly shaped nodules.
The specialist informed me that he wanted me to have a biopsy to rule out thyroid cancer. He explained what thyroid cancer was, it’s prevalence and shared some information about treatment options. He also gave me brochures on thyroid cancer to take home. The entire time he spoke to me, I felt numb. Could this be real? I am at the happiest place in my life, I finally got pregnant after a few frustrating months of trying to no avail and NOW I might have cancer? The timing could not be worse! On my drive back to work from the doctor’s visit, I went through all possible outcomes in my mind. I felt deflated, worried and sad. On the outside I appeared calm but my thoughts were far from being calm, I experienced a roller coaster of emotions that were overwhelming, drowning my mind with conflicting possibilities. It was at this juncture that I came to the conclusion that life's trials are never devoid of lessons, one can choose to be a willing student or become a frustrated one repeating the same class over and over again. Many things in life might momentarily create a phase of happiness, a euphoric sensation that is both fleeting as it is hypnotic and it carries us away until the next wave of issue hits. For me, the momentary happiness was pregnancy which was quickly derailed by the news about having a biopsy to rule out thyroid cancer. For you, it might be learning about a devastating illness, struggling with a lifelong diagnosis, loss of employment, difficult family situation, and the list goes on. The biggest lesson I learned during this experience was that my happiness was my choice alone to make, it was not based on external circumstances and it certainly did not emanate from being pregnant and it won’t be snatched away by the possibility of having cancer. I realized that I needed to snatch myself from the grips of thoughts and feelings that were threatening to take away my peace. Fact is that over 90% of what we fear and ruminate over do not actualize, what is even more startling is that over 90% of our worries are also repeated worries. That is, we mostly worry about the same thing we did yesterday, last week, last month, etc. it never stops. Our minds have amazing abilities to fixate on negative thoughts and emotions and remind us often, several times a day, every day, every month and every year. It feeds on itself and grows. The more we worry, the more worried we will become. Yet the worries do not solve problems, in actuality, they make our problems appear bigger. In order to put a break on my worries, I made a conscious decision to live in ambiguity, to radically accept that worrying would not change the result of that biopsy and at the end of the day, whatever the result may be, I will make it through. What kept me sane was focusing on the things I was sure of, things that were concrete and true. I have life and as far as I knew it, I had good health. I have a loving son, I have a roof over my head, my daily bread is provided for, I have a sound mind and I have great friends and family of support. There were two parallel narratives running through my mind. The first and prominent one was scared of the 'C' word and was not particularly interested in reality, it was fear-based. Despite being told by the doctor that thyroid cancer was treatable and that I might not have it, I was incredibly aware of death and what would happen to my husband, son or this baby in my womb if she/he makes it. This narrative was filled with worry, rumination over things that have not happened and conjectures. The second narrative acknowledged reality as is. The reality was that I did not know what the biopsy result would be and my life was full of so much wonders to be eternally grateful for. When I chose this narrative, I became more grateful, happy and at peace. The truth is happiness is not found in what happens to you, it's not found in achievements or disappointments, it's not found in compliments or critiques, the home of happiness lies in the depth of gratitude and a forgiving spirit. When we choose to stop wrestling with life, when we stop attempting to change things that we have no control over, then we open the door for gratitude and in the room of gratitude we will find our happiness. Happiness is not found in books, blog posts, 7 easy steps, in people or relationships, money, food, drugs or alcohol, happiness is found in you and in your journey. Every day you get to make a conscious or unconscious choice to choose happiness or despair. In your thought patterns, in the choice of words you use to describe yourself or others and in your actions. You cannot put others down and be happy, you can't be jealous and be happy, and you can't be pretentious and be happy. You can't think badly about yourself, or put yourself down and be happy. Happiness is a journey and gratitude is the vehicle. Gratitude removes you from the baggage and burdens of your histories, the worries of your future and keeps you focused on the here and now. Your marriage might be falling apart, your health suffering, your finances might be in the gutter, you might be struggling to get pregnant, all these things are real and they are capable of making us all feel hopeless, BUT being thankful, shifts the focus. If you do not find a space of gratitude in your life, the storms of life will overtake and overwhelm you, if you don't make a choice to be happy, life will make a choice of despair for you. Your circumstances do not determine your happiness, money will not make you happy; happiness is something you actively choose every day in spite of the circumstances surrounding you. Life is full of experiences that will buttress our thoughts, validate our feelings which will eventually dictate our behaviors. There are three essential things that I have found helpful in maintaining and choosing happiness. 1. Practicing gratitude daily - In our home, every night with our son, we have a gratitude circle where we share what we are thankful for. You could try gratitude journaling or gratitude video journaling. Just hit record on your cell phone camera or voice recorder. 2. Get rid of toxic waste in your life. Emotionally hoarding toxic people will drain your happiness and peace. Rid your life of emotional vampires, studies show that bad friends are not good for your health or life expectancy. 3. Forgive - yes, this is the one I find to be the most challenging. I Have a hard time accepting and letting go of bad things that have happened to me. I expend energy wishing and hoping those experiences never occurred. In life, we don't get to undo experiences. Radically accepting what happened is a great start, next step is letting it go. Holding on to resentments only keeps us faithfully married to the hurt. It's time to move on, letting it go doesn't exonerate the person that hurt you, but it frees you from the chains of resentment. Forgive and clear your emotional house while creating space for new and better experiences to occur. 4. Lastly, be gentle on yourself. It's a journey and you will find yourself back in the old patterns of complaining and resenting. Remember that life isn't really about what happens to you because something is guaranteed to happen, it's about what you do in response. So when life happens and the narrative of worry and concern fills your thoughts, remember that you have a choice to choose happiness via gratitude. When I finally got the result of the biopsy, my doctor informed me that I did not have thyroid cancer. He also informed me that I'd have to complete bi-annual ultrasounds to check on the status of those nodules. I have had 3 ultrasounds so far and there have been no changes, I'm clear! I also gave birth to my daughter and she just turned 1. This blog was written by me for my friend Rebecca Black as a guest blog for her website www.rebeccarefined.com The biggest trials that I ever faced that produced the deepest pain have given me the biggest gains. I have had more thrusting forward movements, grown emotionally, spiritually and gained the most out of the most difficult and painful experiences. I strongly believe that our spiritual and emotional growth and victories are directly proportional to the intensity of the painful experiences.
Just like the challenges of pregnancies, childbirth, returning to school, getting a degree, starting a new business, starting a new life in a new place, all of the these experiences can engender tensions, struggles and challenges, but these challenges are not wasted. Eventually, there is a sweet harvest after the difficult period of sowing, shedding, refining, and growing. The rewards might be the sense of accomplishments in graduation, the safe delivery of a baby at the end of a pregnancy or the comfortable resettlement in a new place. Life was never meant to be easy but no one wants to be on the receiving end of life’s challenges and curve balls. I have found myself many times on the difficult, lowly and lonely road where it feels like everything failed me. I have been in dark places where I felt God failed me; scripture failed me and all my life philosophies, and the comfort blankets seemed to be useless. Nothing worked to dull the pain; no one could climb the seemingly insurmountable mountain for me. I felt all alone in the misery; I loathed life, God and myself in those days. What I found true of those experiences is that the more I fought the pain, denied it, and tried to avoid it, the more painful it became. No dulling, no clichés, no hiding, no pretending worked. But, the problems did not change. I had to change. I had to decide to walk and break through those stumbling blocks, go over them, go around them or die under them. So when I was able to finally garner up the energy to DO SOMETHING, that is when I started seeing forward movements. When I stopped wasting all my emotional energy despising, hating, criticizing, judging and being angry, and started using those same stumbling blocks as stepping stones, that’s when I began to get it. One second at a time, one minute at a time, one day at a time, slowly but surely, I moved toward the pain and then slowly started walking and sometimes barely crawling past it until I was able to say, alas! I did not die under the pressure, I made it! The ability to surmount the insurmountable mountains taught me that I was strong yet vulnerable, I am not as easy to crush and decimate as I thought. The confidence I got from knowing that I could rise up again and again and again was truly energizing and as such has been more of a driving force in how I approach life, challenges, goals and visions. No experience is wasted, even bad experiences. Scripture (Romans 8:28) says that “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them…” For me the working out for good did not mean that the problems did not occur, that I did not experience heart ache, and that there was a time machine that erased the painful memories. The work together for good for me meant that I had a change in perspective, learned something, grew, and had the courage to press on. There were no real changes in my circumstance but there were significant improvement in my attitude and response to them. I admitted that my situation SUCKED and I pressed forward. The work together for good for me meant that I was able to use those experiences to connect to others, generate empathy, it helped me to be less judgmental and more accepting and it humbled me greatly. There’s nothing as filling as when life hands you a humble pie. The working out for good did not just end with me, it became a ripple effect. So in the end those experiences were not wasted, they’ve been used time and time again to open great doors for me, to connect me with amazing people, to create platforms that I could never have had if not for those experiences. The same painful and difficult experiences have brought validation to some, healing to others, hope to some, affirmation to others, sign to some, and inspiration for others. Never wasted, never wasted. So whatever you might be going through, no matter how difficult, painful, indescribable, unbelievable, unfathomable, unforgivable, I want to venture as to say that those experiences are not empty. Even if you are not consoled by those words right now, there will come a day when those problems will slowly move further and further from your rear-view mirror. A day will come when those experiences do not consume you and trigger as much pain as they used to, there will come a day when you will smile again. And beyond that, there will come a day when you will take what you need from those life experiences to thrust you forward in life. That is when the scab experiences have turned to scar experiences. The scar says there has been some trauma here but it has healed. It is a geographical reminder of a specific experience, time and place. It does not bleed when touched, it can’t be peeled off, it is just what it is, a scar. Pain is real, fear is real, anxiety is real, depression is real, uncertainty is real, betrayal is real, heartbreak is real, and so is COURAGE; courage to press on, courage to walk, courage to crawl, courage to take wings and fly. You will make it, I know you will and those experiences will not be wasted. You will make it, you have to make it, someone is counting on you to make it, and someone needs you to make it. I am reminded of a phrase in my son’s favorite animated movie (NEMO) when he was 3yrs old, “just keep swimming, just keep swimming, just keep swimming...” You will feel overwhelmed, you will feel every wave hit you, take over you, toss you around like a lifeless fish but keep swimming, dry land is on the horizon. Change comes once we realize that we are worthy of better. Then, we can ask from life what we have concluded in our hearts that we deserve or are worth. Many of us are stuck and miserable because we have settled, we play tapes in our heads that act as a constant reminder of our failures and inadequacies. Until we push the eject button and rid our minds of that negative self talk, we will continue to find ourselves trapped in the cycle of serial pathological relationships, jobs, and attract exactly what we have so erroneously believed that we deserve.
You are worthy of a better job/career, you're worthy of a college or graduate degree, you're worthy of that great new business you've been wanting to start, you're worthy of a partner that will treat you with respect and dignity, you are worthy, you are worthy, you are worthy! I read this poem a while ago and I think it buttresses my point. “I bargained with Life for a penny, And Life would pay no more, However I begged at evening When I counted my scanty store. For Life is a just employer, He gives you what you ask, But once you have set the wages, Why, you must bear the task. I worked for a menial’s hire, Only to learn, dismayed, That any wage I had asked of Life, Life would have willingly paid.” Author Unknown Marriage issues are common but in my community, it is taboo to talk about them. It is almost as though everyone is expected to be married and live happily ever after even though many people are not. The fact is 51% of marriages end in divorce and less than 20% of marriages are actually thriving.
Many of us struggle in our homes with spouses that are unfaithful, addicted to porn, gambling, have anger issues and or even struggle with alcohol and other drug addictions. For some of us it is the pain and shame of domestic violence and for others our struggles come from having different parenting styles or living with a spouse with mental illness or chronic disease or sexual dysfunction. Instead of us to seek help, we cover up our struggles because we are ashamed. We personalize things and we tell ourselves that we must be bad spouses, bad parents and are too embarrassed to actually make the tough decisions that may be required during the tough times, which to some, is for most of the duration of their marriage. For many of us, we stop attending functions with our spouses and others even go as far as to cut themselves out completely from their community of support because they are afraid of what people will say or think. We are ashamed! Marriage is not easy, people do cheat, people lie and hurt each other; people come into marriage with their own personal, sometimes very deep rooted issues that we cannot cure or even change. Marriages do undergo difficult situations and some make it while others do not. This has been like this from the beginning of time and will always be. I want you to know that you are not alone in your pain, you are not alone in this misery; you are not alone in this dessert of struggle. In the dessert of struggle, there is an oasis and it is called “community.” I hope you can feel and hear my sincere words when I say to you, take away the veil of shame and sorrow. You need not walk around with your head buried in the sand, you need not worry about what people are going to think or say. You definitely should not keep those problems to yourself because they have the ability to make you physically sick. First find a trusted friend whom you can share your burdens with, preferably someone of the same gender (I will be writing about safeguarding your marriage soon). Make sure the friend you are sharing with is someone that can be objective not negative. Seek out advice from someone whose life is a testament of health, because not every trusted friend is a healthy friend. If that does not work, find a pastor, a spiritual leader, an elder, or a therapist. In the midst of this, draw closer to God, pray because these moments have an uncanny habit of zapping your spirit and leaving you feeling like the walking dead. Make sure you get spiritual nourishment, it will sustain you. Whatever you do, do not abandon your spiritual practices such as prayer, meditation, reading scriptures etc. Do not be in denial about your issues, talk with your spouse about it, we are truly only as sick as our secrets. Rather than ignoring your issues, create a plan of action. If this issue requires medical attention, go to the doctor with your spouse, if it requires other interventions, follow through with them. Shame does not produce change, courage does. Your peace and the happiness of your family is germane. Sometimes we have to make difficult decisions to leave or stay, neither of those two decisions are easy to make. They both take courage. I have heard many people say that it is easy to walk away from a relationship. Actually, the opposite is true. It is extremely difficult to walk away and it is equally tough to stay. Know that you are not alone except you choose to be. Find a community, church, support group, a counselor, a coach. Whatever you do, don’t do nothing! Take off the Shroud of fear, shame, unworthiness, inadequacy, and put on the words of God that says you are loved, you are wonderfully created. Understand that sorrow may last for a night (and it might be a long night) but joy comes in the morning. Learn from your struggles and live! Be encouraged. When we just got married, we had one of the biggest tests to our marriage a week after our wedding. Our lives together as husband and wife started with a lovely wedding in London, UK. My husband left me in London to return to the US 4 days after our wedding and by Saturday (1 week after the wedding), he was back at work. Upon returning to work the Saturday after our wedding, his employer terminated his employment. I joined him in the US a week after he lost his job with only a few hundred dollars to my name. I was also unable to work because I did not have the legal status to do so.
My husband's unemployment lasted for 9 months and I was not able to gain any employment even after I was legally able to work. During this trying time, we argued a lot, even over ridiculously mundane things. We blamed each other for things that we had no control over and there were many times I considered having my parents send me a one way ticket to England. It was physically, emotionally and mentally unbearable and there were times that I thought I was going to have a mental breakdown. Things did not change for a long time, bills were unpaid, car note unpaid, we struggled to pay our rent and to have food on the table. It was hell on earth! With all these going on, we prayed together, we went to church together but we still argued and blamed each other. We really did not realize how badly we made life difficult for each other. The financial issue was one thing, but our response to it was another. Our responses to those challenges made it even worse for us as a couple and as individuals. Truthfully, the only thing we got right was our very strong prayer life. I do not know if we could have made it through and out of the valley together if was not for our unwavering commitment to praying together. Outside of praying together, we were an emotional mess! I wish someone could have told us that we were focusing on the wrong things and that we should not attack each other. We have had many more valley moments since then and we have learned to work together, rather than attack each other. Couples, when things get difficult, especially with finances, loss of job, house or car. When you are behind on payments, business is tanking or suffering from life altering illnesses etc., the easiest person to fight is your spouse. Do not fall into the trap!! The enemy’s plan is to divide and conquer. Don’t isolate yourself and bash your best and number 1 support system. Work together, pray together, and use this time to grow together. Grapes need to go through some pressing to extract the juice. When you drink and taste a good wine, remember that the process to get there was difficult for the grape. Here are some helpful tools that have worked for us, try it and see if it works for you: · Take time out if you need it. · When you are angry, do not speak out what you are thinking. It should probably stay in your head and not come out of your mouth. · Write letters first if you need to, but make sure you leave it for a day and come back to it before giving it to your spouse or partner. · Your spouse is not the problem, the PROBLEM is the PROBLEM! Do not lose focus! · Take a break; I am a big supporter of changing the environment. Go and visit a friend for the weekend or for a day. · Cuddle, yes, cuddle a lot. Your spouse will appreciate that you are on this boat with them and nothing expresses that like physical touch. · Difficult times are vulnerable times. Do not abandon your sex life. Sex builds intimacy and intimacy makes for a healthy sex life. Once your sex life tanks, the engine that makes the relationship run will also start having difficulty and will leave you vulnerable. · Affirm each other; tell them you are grateful for whatever they do. For example, say thanks for taking care of the kids, thanks for paying our phone bills, thanks for taking out the trash, thanks for cooking dinner, thanks… express gratitude, because unexpressed gratitude is ingratitude. · Pray about the issues together. Lift your financial, health and/or business issues to God as often as you can, together! · Get some perspective! Yep, you can walk, talk, breathe, you are not on your death bed, and you can see with your eyes and hear with your ears. You are blessed! Things could be worse and there are many people in worse situations. When it is all said and done, it is not what you accumulate or achieve that matters. Having your spouse next to you, loving you to the end is what counts. · Lastly, have faith, believe. Encourage yourself and each other. Talk about difficult times in the past and how you overcame them together. Remind yourself of God’s faithfulness. Sorrow may last for a night (and it might be a long night) but JOY comes in the morning. Your joy is on its way and when it comes, wouldn't it be nice to have your spouse next to you to celebrate? If yes, go and make repairs, apologize, forgive and follow the steps as laid out above. Having children is really a blessing and an indescribable joy to parents. However, having kids, nurturing and raising them come with unique challenges to marriages that require creative solutions.
What usually happens when kids come into the picture is that couples resign from their roles as husbands and wives to handle the tasks at hand. Their major focus shifts to the child(ren) such that they cease from being individuals or a couple, but are solely defined by their roles as parents. This shift is critical for bonding, survival of the baby and gaining efficacy as it applies to parenting. However, if the shift becomes a permanent one with the marital relationship taking a backseat, problems arise. A healthy marriage/family is one in which everyone in the family is able to successfully adapt to change. The issue then here is not having children per se but what we do in reaction to this new change – insert having kids. From my clinical observations and personal experience, these 2 things tend to suffer once couples have kids: Self care- One way or another, we convince ourselves that being a mom or dad is the most important task and nothing else matters as we fulfill this sacred role. Women in particular suffer from this disease the most because we often are the ones that carry most of the responsibilities of having a baby; the division of labor or child rearing responsibilities often fall unequally on women. Due to all the new demands that are tugging at us, we subconsciously or semi-consciously conclude that we are not as important and we neglect our selves. We neglect friendships, our bodies, hobbies and interests and so forth for the sake of our children, at least that is the reason we give. Marriage- Our marriages take a major hit as we pay less and less attention to ourselves and our spouses. Parents are often tired and less inclined to go the extra mile. By the time couples realize there is a problem, they are having arguments about everything! Both partners become very exhausted and overwhelmed by this new change and responsibility. Hence, in stead of working together they begin to fight each other by arguing, having screaming fits or avoiding and tolerating each other. As parents, when we are tired from work or taking care of the kids (in many cases, both) the highlight of our day is the fantasy about the kids going to bed and then hitting our soft pillows. When we have conversations with our spouses, it centers on the children and bills and for many of us, this is the only point of connection. As couples, we spend less and less time holding hands, kissing, and connecting; in it’s stead, we have business transactions. For some of us, we may have sex once in a while and we are usually looking forward for it to be over. Sex now becomes a chore and charity work. Something you do because you feel bad about saying no all the time, something that takes time and cuts into your hours of sleep. When these patterns continue, both partners become very emotionally lonely, detached and dissatisfied until something is done to remedy it. This is a very dangerous place to be maritally and emotionally and can create an environment conducive for affairs to occur. Some marriages do not end up in affairs; they just become emotionally dead marriages, like working a dead end job just for the money. Many people do not want to be in this situation; in fact no one plans this, it just happens. There are ways to make changes to our marriages and this applies to those with new born babies and those with teenagers. I have outlined some helpful ideas that I have worked for other couples and added some that we use as a couple to avoid the trap of complacency, try some and see if it is at all helpful. If we do not get creative, mindful and intentional about our marriages, we are in danger of losing intimacy, joy and fulfillment in our marital homes. Also, when we prioritize our marriages, we communicate to our children that mommy and daddy love each other and our kids draw upon that love for confidence and self esteem. We also demonstrate what a loving healthy relationship looks like to our children so that they have good role models. So in the end, it can still ALL be about the kids. Happy marriages make happy parents, which in turn makes for optimally healthy home for raising kids. Please note that some of these may or may not work for you, you may need to adjust it to fit your lifestyle, mood, and schedule. The key is not for you to do the exact same thing, the point is for you to start doing something different, get creative and mix things up. 1. Date nights, pick a day of the week and stick to it no matter what. This is one that we are faithful to, for us Friday night is a sacred night. Neither of us is allowed to schedule ANYTHING on Friday nights without first making sure it is alright with each other. We started practicing this while pregnant with our first child. Yep, it takes practice! 2. Date night does not always have to cost a lot of money, sometimes a little splurge works too – dates can include cuddling up on the sofa watching a tv show, driving around and just chatting, lying down on the bed talking for hours, eating a nice home cooked meal or a Chinese take away. Dates that could require some money- going to watch a movie, going to a restaurant, trying out the different Irish pubs in the neighborhood, going to listen to jazz artists etc. Just make it happen, be creative as to what you would deem a date, as long as you are together and having fun with each other, the goal has been met! 3. Sofa nights – we tried this but it did not last long as our son grew up, he just joined us on the sofa and we couldn’t kick our own son off the sofa because we were on a sofa night date. So that kind of morphed more into family time. 4. Do nice things for each other – Cook your partner their favorite dish, record their favorite TV shows, watch their favorite sport and TV shows with them, help with chores in the house, wash dishes. It communicates that you are paying attention and that you care. 5. Kiss and hug before leaving the house and when you return every day, yes even if you are going to the store. This is a fun family one as well; you can do this with the kids as well. Call it a “family hug,” it encourages bonding with your children and it signifies togetherness and assures the children that you are all a unit. 6. Use words of affirmation – telling your husband what a great father he is goes a long way. Like wise, men, tell your wife how much you appreciate what they do. If you think it, say it! If you don’t say it, we do not know it. An encouraging word goes a long way. Everyone loves to be told how lovely, beautiful, sexy, and kind they are. Men, especially should take the time to appreciate the woman’s extra efforts and responsibilities in caring for the children, it should not be taken for granted. 7. Be spontaneous- we have sometimes traveled out of town to a hotel for the weekend by ourselves, just because! Or decided at almost midnight to head off to cheesecake factory, purchase cheesecake, chat and eat on the chairs outside at the mall or while sitting in the car. 8. Make time to connect – have lunch with each other from time to time, especially on work days if you can and meet with other couples to have double dates. Having children can be very demanding and you may wish to say to me, Jummy! You’re so lucky; I wish my life was like that. I am tired all the time and I usually have no energy. To which I will respond, I understand, I have been there, in fact, I am there! If we want something to change then we need to start getting real and making different choices. The suggestions that are outlined above are not easy to do, in fact, there are times that our spouses need to help us to remain faithful to the cause and at other times we are the ones that will need to do it for our spouses. What we must not do is to be so focused on our children that we let our marriages/relationships go. We must not neglect our wives and husbands and resign them to parenting roles. Before we became parents, we had names, desires, visions and goals. Those do not die just because we become parents. We need to find simple, practical ways to meet our needs. Taking time for our relationship takes practice. I know that sounds so mechanical but it is true. If you want to try out some of the above suggestions, here are some important things that you could do to get you there and make the attempts successful and long lasting. - Start this week. Do not wait until next week. Talk this over with your spouse and pick and schedule a day to stay up and cuddle on the sofa or eat a candle lit meal at home - Hold each other accountable to make this happen - Drop your pride at the front door. That is, if your spouse forgets or books something else that day, fight for your time together. Don’t get frustrated and say, well he or she clearly does not care so why should I? Remind your spouse how important spending time with her is to you and create a make up date right away. - Put date nights/activities in your calendar as a recurring event - Let your friends and family know what those days are so that they are aware and won’t disturb you or ask much of either of you. - Be silly, enjoy and be spontaneous - Practice, practice, practice. If you don’t, you won’t! |
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