The Love Dare -Day One

Day One - Love is Patient

If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.

If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.

And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.

1 Corinthians 13:1-3

The following is paraphrased from The Love Dare:

We are born with a need for love. Our hearts desperately want it. Love changes everything in our lives. Relationships have purpose with it and no marriage is successful without it. Love has such a deep meaning in all of our lives and motivates us to do wonderful things. It does what is best for others and can give us strength to do what otherwise we wouldn't without it.

Love is built on two cornerstones -patience and kindness. Google defines patience as the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset and kindness as the quality of being friendly, generous, and considerate.

When you choose to be patient, you respond in a positive way to a negative situation.  You are slow to anger and choose a long fuse over a short temper. Patience settles you down and begins to extend mercy to those around you -it brings an internal calm to an external storm.

An impatient person easily overreacts in angry, foolish, and regrettable ways. Anger toward a wrongful actions brings new wrongs of its own. Anger never makes a situation better and almost always makes it worse. 

Patience stops problems in their tracks and allows people to be human. Lack of patience will turn your home into a war zone. Anger comes from not getting what you want -selfishness. 

{Again, I can't write word for word what the book says so if you would like to read all of it then you would have to buy the book}

*************************************

I'll admit it now that I am not a patient person by any definition. I have a short fuse and am quick to anger. This alone has caused so many problems in our marriage. I react in a negative way to situations that aren't even that important. I often times don't give him the chance to really say what is on his mind without having my own commentary about it. Patience is definitely something that doesn't come naturally to me. 

I want my husband to trust that he can always come to me with anything and be met with understanding rather than quick-tempered words. 

This is my reason for wanting to complete The Love Dare. 

Today's Dare:

The first part of this dare is fairly simple. Although love is communicated in a number of ways, our words often reflect the condition of our heart. For the next day, resolve to demonstrate patience and to say NOTHING NEGATIVE to your spouse AT ALL. If the temptation arises, choose not to say anything. It's better to hold your tongue than to say something you will regret.
If you are participating in The Love Dare with me, please comment when you've completed today's dare. Did anything happen today to cause anger toward your spouse? Were you tempted to say negative words?

If you like would like to have My Blessings at Home delivered to your inbox daily, click here: Subscribe to Blessings at Home . 
My Blessings at Home can also be found on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.
All content © My Blessings at Home 2012.

First Time Guest Posting

Y'all I couldn't believe it. I'm pretty sure my little heart skipped a beat and there was a tiny squeel.

Why you might ask?

Ashley from over at Southern Mama and Wife asked me to guest post at her blog today! I was excited to say the least!!

This is my first time guest posting.

Ashley, thank you so much for asking me to hijack your blog today! It's an honor -really.

I absolutely loved her recent post about living in the South. I've lived in Louisiana all of my life and can relate to everything she said! Ashley has a lovely blog and you will definitely love it once you visit!!

***************************************

Can your marriage beat the heat?

That's a question I've been asking myself a lot over the last two and a half years. Unfortunately, many times I have felt like our marriage was close to the end. We have had more downs than ups and so often we've resorted to harsh words or the silent treatment than working through our problems.

Thankfully there has always been a second chance but that's not the way I want to live anymore. I don't want a mediocre marriage and I bet you don't either! I want to live life on purpose and make sure my husband knows how much I love him.

Follow me over to Ashley's blog Southern Mama and Wife for a few ways you can make your marriage more special now!

If you like would like to have My Blessings at Home delivered to your inbox daily, click here: Subscribe to Blessings at Home . 
My Blessings at Home can also be found on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.
All content © My Blessings at Home 2012.

I Dare You...

I dare you to join me for the next 40 days as I blog through The Love Dare book.
I dare you to make your faith stronger.
I dare you to transform the way you look at your spouse and your marriage.
I dare you to make your life better -happier even.

Tomorrow I'm guest posting over at Southern Mama and Wife's blog where I'm sharing about my mediocre marriage and deciding to change that!

As part of that I decided to partake in The Love Dare. I've had the book for quite some time but never got past Day 5 any of the times I picked it back up. My mind and heart just wasn't in the right place. I was okay with where my marriage was and didn't think I needed any help.

Thank the Lord He changed my heart!

I'm ready to live my life on purpose and change the way I view my marriage. I want a life filled with happiness, positive encouragement both ways, trust, joy...and so much more.

The introduction to the book says this:

"Receive this as a warning. This forty day journey cannot be taken lightly. It is a challenging and often difficult process, but an incredibly fulfilling one. To take this dare requires a resolute mind and a steadfast determination. It is not meant to be sampled or briefly tested, and those who quit early will forfeit the greatest benefits. If you will commit to a day at a time for forty days, the results could change your life and your marriage.

Consider it a dare, from others who have done it before you. "

Sounds awesome right? Are you ready? Will you take the dare and join me? Will you make your marriage fireproof?

Every day for the next 40 days I will have a post up about the corresponding day in the book. I can't write exactly what the book says because that would be plagiarism and that's not cool -but I promise to keep my words close to what is written and every bit as encouraging! This will also be a springboard to launch myself and you into a deeper look at our faith, ourselves, and our marriages. 

Again, please do not take this lightly. I promise to be here for you -for encouragement, prayers, support, an ear to listen, and whatever guidance I can give you! 

Take a moment now and think about where your marriage is now and if it could be better. If your answer is yes it could be better, then what are you waiting for...join me already! Say a prayer tonight asking for God's guidance in this journey, your marriage, and your life. 

Get ready....

If you would like to commit to and participate in this journey please leave a comment with your name and email address so that I can help keep you accountable and we could maybe chat about practical ways to improve our lives!

To see where this post is linked up, please click here!

If you like would like to have My Blessings at Home delivered to your inbox daily, click here: Subscribe to Blessings at Home . 
My Blessings at Home can also be found on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.
All content © My Blessings at Home 2012.