The Love Dare, Day 11 & 12!

Day 11: Love cherishes. Scripture Verse: “Husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies” (Ephesians 5:28) THE DARE: What need does your spouse have that you could meet today? Can you run an errand? Give a back rub or foot massage? Is their housework that you could help with? Choose a gesture that says “I cherish you” and do it with a smile.

I would like to address the scripture verse used for day 11. “Husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies” (Ephesians 5:28) Does that mean he should give her large quantities of beer and bugles during the big game? Does that mean he should buy her a razor and encourage her to shave that goatee that is growing in? Does that mean he should tell her she really only needs two pairs of shoes; one pair for work and sneakers for play time?

As funny as relationships between men and women are, the one thing that Paul was encouraging the Christians in Ephesus to do was to be more kind, patient and loving to one another. Men have gotten a reputation for being less sensitive and far more harsh and demanding than women. Women by nature are nurturers. Men, not so much….according to the stereotypical models that have been laid down for us by our social and cultural norms. However, I have found personally that is not always the case. My husband, although does fit many of the stereotypical molds, he is very nurturing, caring, loving, supportive and encouraging, but he does need a lot of direction in these areas. If we, as wives, tell our husbands what we need they are usually pretty quick to respond. Some men really have no clue what the emotional needs are of his wife, so ladies help your guy out and give him some direction. Just be gentle in your approach. No guy wants to hear that he is not “the man” in all the areas of his wife’s life. And when he does do something that fulfills these requisites let him know what a great job he is doing. Everyone thrives on encouragement; no one wants to ever hear how they are NOT measuring up. Ladies, you know how angry it makes you when someone criticizes you especially when you are doing your best, so remember that he needs to be encouraged too.

So what did I do for day 11? I made my husband his favorite meal….I met his need to eat! It must have been a hit because he ate A LOT! He loves pork chops made like his mommy made them, so that is what I did. It isn’t my favorite recipe because following simple instructions are not my strong point; plus I hate to cook. I tried to do it with a smile, but I think he figured out that I was in a lot of pain (fibromyalgia) because he asked if he could help; but I completed the meal all by myself. Yaaaaay! Not very exciting I know, but meeting your husbands needs really goes along way.

Day 12: Love lets the other win. Scripture Verse: “Do not merely look out for your own personal interests but also for the interests of others.” (Philippians 2:4) THE DARE: Demonstrate love by willingly choosing to give in to an area of disagreement between you and your spouse. Tell them you are putting their preference first.

Letting your spouse win a disagreement? Really? That is our dare? I don’t know if I can do this one? We don’t really disagree that much. In theory we agree on almost everything, but when we do disagree it is usually on the approach to solving a problem. I’m going on to the next dare, but will keep you posted when this one arises and how I handle it….

My Favorite Headlines:

As always, email me YOUR spiritual questions, top favorite headline picks or your “off the record” comments to NoShoes@charter.net. I will include your name and city, and if the headline pick is interesting, appropriate and not offensive, I will post them!

ADVISORY: Users are solely responsible for opinions they post here and for following agreed-upon rules of civility. Comments do not reflect the views of The Virginian-Pilot or its Web sites. Comments are automatically checked for inappropriate language, but readers might find some comments offensive or inaccurate. If you believe a comment violates our rules, click the "Report Violation" link below the comment.

The Love Dare, Day 10!

Day 10: Love is unconditional. Scripture Verse: God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8) THE DARE: Do something out of the ordinary today for your spouse – something that proves to you and to them that your love is based on your choice and nothing else. Suggestions included: wash their car, clean the kitchen, buy their favorite dessert, fold the laundry. Demonstrate love to them for the sheer joy of being their partner in marriage.

Since I clean the kitchen several times a day and sometimes at the end of the day Mark comes home and cleans it again while I give the kids a bath, and folding the laundry is also something I do daily, I decided to do something that I don’t usually do. I cleaned the shower door in Mark’s bathroom. I don’t know why, but he doesn’t seem to like to do it and it can get pretty nasty. This whole “love dare” thing is really just an exercise in giving instead of taking; a lesson in losing your preconceived expectations and just serve the other person. Since I really do enjoy cleaning (I know I’m a weirdo) it wasn’t much of a sacrifice and it is just something he won’t have to think about doing, at least for a while.

A friend of mine recently gave a talk to a group of ladies on the virtues of simply being okay in your marriage. The thought being that it is okay if it isn’t always some mushy, Hollywood version of passion and butterflies in the stomach every time your man enters the room. That being content in your marriage really is a pretty good thing. When you aren’t content you have a tendency to “covet”. That of course is a sin, but some folks just don’t know how to get this little, seemingly innocuous sin out of their lives. In fact, I have had a great deal of people tell me that it just isn’t possible to NOT want what someone else has and that it is actually a GOOD thing to want what your neighbor has. According to these folks, it drives the bus of ambition and the entrepreneurial spirit. To that I would have to disagree. Most of us have something that we are passionate about…for me it is blathering on and on and on, giving unwanted advice to anyone who will read it. But for others, it is kids, or a profession, or a business or money, or helping others, or education, or creating something beautiful, or inventing something great or interesting. All of us have a passion for something and we follow our dreams as far as it will lead us. Some of us are fortunate and we can make a living at what we love. While the rest of us have to get mediocre jobs so we can pursue our passions as hobbies, but whatever the driving force behind it, if it is “coveting your neighbors” whatever, it is simply sin. We need to always be content, maybe not happy all the time or even really all that thrilled about our circumstances, we do need to be content…and that really is okay!

Day 11's dare is to meet a need for my spouse. Are you still bored? Maybe you could give me a few NICE suggestions on what I could do 'cause I'm running out of ideas here folks…

My Favorite Headlines:  

As always, email me YOUR spiritual questions, top favorite headline picks or your “off the record” comments to NoShoes@charter.net. I will include your name and city, and if the headline pick is interesting, appropriate and not offensive, I will post them!

ADVISORY: Users are solely responsible for opinions they post here and for following agreed-upon rules of civility. Comments do not reflect the views of The Virginian-Pilot or its Web sites. Comments are automatically checked for inappropriate language, but readers might find some comments offensive or inaccurate. If you believe a comment violates our rules, click the "Report Violation" link below the comment.

The Love Dare, Day 9!

Day 9: Love makes good impressions. Scripture Verse: “Greet one another with a kiss of love.” (1 Peter 5:14) THE DARE: Think of a specific way you’d like to greet your spouse today. Do it with a smile and with enthusiasm. Then determine to change your greeting to reflect your love for them.

I recently received some startling information that really made me take a serious look at how lucky I am to be married to the man that I am married too. You know, it’s that kind of info. that makes you think twice about ever getting married and if you are married you are sincerely grateful that you are not yoked to someone “like that”. It’s like the night you go out to dinner with a couple who you haven’t know very long, only to discover that she is a Satan worshiper and he is on parole for child molestation. You say to yourself: “they looked so normal” and “thank God I’m not married to one of them”. Yes, appearances can be very deceiving. In fact, you really never know the person you are married to until you go through some trial or traumatic event and then their true character either shines or crashes and burns. Mark and I have been through some pretty difficult stuff and he has never wavered from his commitment in our marriage. So….on the day that I received this startling information and found myself incredibly grateful that I was married to Mark; he walked in the door and was immediately assaulted by a crazy wife who threw her arms around him and told him…I’m quoting now…. “I’m so happy that I’m married to you”…and then he responded… “What happened? Did something get broken? Is someone hurt? What caught fire?” I laughed and told him of the news I had received but I also told him that I always feel this way, I just don’t always show him so dramatically. And you may or may not find this interesting, but this all happened BEFORE I read what my dare was to be.....

Now onto Day 10…..

My Favorite Headlines:

As always, email me YOUR spiritual questions, top favorite headline picks or your “off the record” comments to NoShoes@charter.net. I will include your name and city, and if the headline pick is interesting, appropriate and not offensive, I will post them!

ADVISORY: Users are solely responsible for opinions they post here and for following agreed-upon rules of civility. Comments do not reflect the views of The Virginian-Pilot or its Web sites. Comments are automatically checked for inappropriate language, but readers might find some comments offensive or inaccurate. If you believe a comment violates our rules, click the "Report Violation" link below the comment.

The Love Dare, Day 8!

Saturday I took a break from “the Love Dare” because I was not feeling so great and my kids wanted to play in the snow. I wanted to give this my all, but I am discovering that I don’t have a lot of time for anything extra in my life. And Mark and I seem to already be doing most of these, so he hasn’t really noticed. It has also been mentioned by a few readers, via emails and posts, that this is really boring them. You know… “took a walk” blah, blah, blah “talked to Jesus” blah, blah, blah…and so I apologize. I will try and spice it up a little, okay?!?

Sunday I did Day 8: Love is not jealous. Love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave. It burns like blazing fire. (Song of Solomon 8:6 NIV) Today’s dare: Determine to become your spouse’s biggest fan and to reject any thoughts of jealousy. To help you set your heart on your spouse and focus on their achievements, take yesterday’s list of negative attributes and discreetly burn it. Then share with your spouse how glad you are about a success he or she recently enjoyed.

I watched him on Sunday shoveling the snow from our neighbor’s driveway. Our neighbor is an elderly gentleman and he had a doctors appointment today (Monday). Mark saw his wife outside in her bedroom slippers trying to shovel snow by herself. Of course, my husband immediately went over and did it for her. It was freezing and he has bad knees. This may not be spicy enough for you XXX-rated smut brains out there looking for some kind of thrill or juicy argument….yeah, sometimes great marriages are boring in the eyes of the thrill seeking, self-indulgent, narcissistic society that we currently live in; in fact, not too many made for Hollywood movies are ever based on how good marriages work, but when you are in one, you can’t imagine being with anyone else.

The love Hollywood preaches from the big screen is called “eros”. It is the passionate, erotic kind of love based mostly in the groin area. Some of us call it lust; but almost everyone else who is either not in a committed relationship or they don’t know God calls THIS love. There are two other forms of love called “storge” and “phileo”; “storge” representing the love we feel for family members and “phileo” being the love we would feel for a friend. The last form of love is “agape”, it’s the kind of love God has for us. It is unconditional. It is not self seeking it only serves. Yes, this kind of love needs a lot of explanation because it is deeper and more unfathomable than you could ever imagine, yet this is the kind of love God asks Christians to have for everyone, not just our spouse. To really understand this kind of love you MUST have a relationship with the one who created love. Yes, we need to have all four of these kinds of love for our spouse, but one day “eros” may burn out, when our looks fade and age has taken its toll. One day “storge” and “phileo” maybe tested through some unforeseen circumstance; but “agape” never, ever fails.

For those of you who have been married for longer than a few years, you have already rightly figured out that if it is going to work you are going to have to sacrifice some of your wants, needs and desire’s to serve the other person. This is the first step towards true love. As I watched my husband shoveling someone else’s driveway, my heart was touched and I really was deeply moved. But he doesn’t simply sacrifice his time and energy for the benefit of others; he does it for his family too. I guess I could have been “jealous” if he was not so self-sacrificing for his family also, but he is. He serves us better than I could have ever hoped for. I tell him often how much I appreciate his sacrifice. He had dreams and aspirations that have not been completely fulfilled because he had a family. He has had to drive a vehicle that he would not normally drive so I can stay home with my kids and take care of my elderly mother. He once went several years without air conditioning in his van because it was too expensive to get it fixed and that would have put a burden on his family. Neither of us drive vehicles that require a car payment. We don’t take extravagant vacations, buy expensive clothes or even shop at a department store…except Wal-Mart and maybe Target. We shop at thrift stores and make our money go as far as it can so we can be there for our families. Sure, if I went back to work my income would double our household income, but for us, the sacrifices that we make for our children are worth it. And as I watch this man get out of bed day after day before the sun comes up and go to work, I know I can trust him with my life. You can’t spice that up or make it XXX-rated and you can’t put a price tag on that kind of “love”!

Today was day 9 and since it is now 9:45 pm and I have no clue what it was, I’ll have to get back with you on that one!

My Favorite Headlines:

As always, email me YOUR spiritual questions, top favorite headline picks or your “off the record” comments to NoShoes@charter.net. I will include your name and city, and if the headline pick is interesting, appropriate and not offensive, I will post them!

ADVISORY: Users are solely responsible for opinions they post here and for following agreed-upon rules of civility. Comments do not reflect the views of The Virginian-Pilot or its Web sites. Comments are automatically checked for inappropriate language, but readers might find some comments offensive or inaccurate. If you believe a comment violates our rules, click the "Report Violation" link below the comment.

The Love Dare, Day 7!

Well, technically yesterday was day 7 but I was too exhausted to even think. I ran around doing errands all day and today was not much different. I did take a few minutes to read day 7’s intro and what our dare is and it turns out, it is pretty easy too!

Day 7: Love Believes the Best! Today’ scripture verse: [Love] believes all things, hopes all things. (1 Corinthians 13:7) and today’s dare: Get two sheets of paper. On the first one, spend a few minutes writing out positive things about your spouse. Then do the same with negative things on the second sheet. Place both sheets in a secret place for another day. There is a different purpose and plan for each. At some point during the remainder of the day, pick a positive attribute from the first list and thank your spouse for having this characteristic

I made my list and I am saving it for later. Our book/journal asked us an interesting question: “Which list was easiest to make?” They should ask me that question when we are in the middle of some altercation, however since we don’t have those as often as we did when we were first married, making the list of his “positive” attributes was actually the easiest. Mark is a very dedicated father and husband. He makes every effort to help out and not be a part of life’s problems. The “negative” list was much shorter. Anyway, I guess I will reveal them on “another day” when our book says we need to use them. I haven’t looked ahead so I can’t tell you when that is going to be.

I spoke to Mark several times today on the phone and I told him how much I appreciated him taking care of me so well. Because I have fibromyalgia and a thyroid condition my energy levels sometimes can get pretty low especially if I have been busy for a day or two and today is one of those days when I could go lay down on the sidewalk in the upcoming ice storm and go to sleep; sad, but true. One of my biggest problems is health issues, but on the bright side, all is well with my soul. Mark covers me by doing extra stuff like stopping at the store on the way home, watching the kids while I take a nap and tolerating our generally dirty house.

I haven’t read what tomorrow is all about yet; I’ll let it be a surprise!

My Favorite Headlines:

As always, email me YOUR spiritual questions, top favorite headline picks or your “off the record” comments to NoShoes@charter.net. I will include your name and city, and if the headline pick is interesting, appropriate and not offensive, I will post them!

ADVISORY: Users are solely responsible for opinions they post here and for following agreed-upon rules of civility. Comments do not reflect the views of The Virginian-Pilot or its Web sites. Comments are automatically checked for inappropriate language, but readers might find some comments offensive or inaccurate. If you believe a comment violates our rules, click the "Report Violation" link below the comment.

The Love Dare, Day 6!

Yesterday was Day 6: Love is Not Irritable – Our “Love Dare” is based on the scripture verse “He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit, than he who captures a city” (Proverbs 16:32) and our dare was to: Choose to react to tough circumstances in your marriage in loving ways instead of with irritation. Begin by making a list of areas where you need to add margin to your schedule. Then list any wrong motivations that you need to release from your life.

Well it was a VERY easy task. I didn’t see Mark until late in the evening and then I went directly to bed; so I didn’t encounter any tough circumstances. The other task was to make a list of areas where I might need to add margin to my schedule and any wrong motivations that I need to release….hummmmmmmm…well that might not be so easy. Since I homeschool my kids and we have a lot of extra-curricular activities outside the house, like most of you I’m sure, I have absolutely NO wiggle room when it comes to scheduling extra time or adding any “margin” to my schedule. There just isn’t and Mark is aware of the time crunch we are always under and makes every effort to accommodate the needs of our family. We do try to spend extra time with each other on the weekends, especially Friday and Saturday. The biggest “irritation” factor in my life, amazingly enough, is NOT my husband or my children. I take care of my mother and she is the one who tries to put a lot of pressure on me and has a very strong tendency to be negative regarding just about everything. A few weeks ago I had to sit down and have a talk to her and let her know where my boundaries are and the lines she has been crossing. She has been on her best behavior since and has not been getting under my skin. Sure I know, it’s only a matter of time before she starts testing the boundaries again, but this time I’m committed to nipping them in the bud BEFORE I start getting irritable and taking it out on poor Mark. It’s funny, but taking care of our elderly parents really can put a strain on a marriage and Mark has been GREAT! In fact, he handles the whole mess very well…better than me most of the time. Although I do have to say, he does have his moments and he isn’t perfect, I still wouldn’t want to have to go through any of this with anyone else. He is my compass when I get turned around, he encourages me when I get discouraged, he makes me laugh when I am sad, he buys me a bottle of wine when I need one, he puts chocolate in the refrigerator to surprise me later, he gets up early on Saturday and Sundays so I get a break, he runs interference when my mother and I are going at it, he prays for me, he fasts for me, he works hard and he loves me in spite of myself. You just can’t get any better than that!!

I honestly wish I could do something more for him, but he has everything that I have to give. He is my best friend!

Today is day 7 and I don’t have the remotest clue what I was or am supposed to be doing…so day 7 will have to wait until tomorrow…I’m going to bed…..

My Favorite Headlines:

As always, email me YOUR spiritual questions, top favorite headline picks or your “off the record” comments to NoShoes@charter.net. I will include your name and city, and if the headline pick is interesting, appropriate and not offensive, I will post them!

ADVISORY: Users are solely responsible for opinions they post here and for following agreed-upon rules of civility. Comments do not reflect the views of The Virginian-Pilot or its Web sites. Comments are automatically checked for inappropriate language, but readers might find some comments offensive or inaccurate. If you believe a comment violates our rules, click the "Report Violation" link below the comment.

The Love Dare, Day 5!

Yesterday was Day 5: Love is not rude! Our “dare” was based on the scripture verse: “He who blesses his friend with a loud voice early in the morning, it will be reckoned a curse to him.” (Proverbs 27:14) and my challenge was to ask my spouse to tell me three things that cause him to be uncomfortable or irritated with me. I had to do it without attacking him or justifying my behavior. This was to be from his perspective only.

Well, I tried, but he wouldn’t give me a list. He came up with a couple of funny comments, but then he settled on “if you were more perfect then you’ll ruin me for the next woman”! Ha, ha…he is so funny! Anyway, I came up with three on my own. These are things that I already know annoy him.

There…that is my three and I think that Mark would be happy with the ones I have come up with!

Today is Day 6: Love is Not Irritable – Our “Love Dare” is based on the scripture verse “He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit, than he who captures a city” (Proverbs 16:32).

I didn’t get yesterdays verse…“He who blesses his friend with a loud voice early in the morning, it will be reckoned a curse to him.” (Proverbs 27:14). I am not a morning person so if you are loud in the morning around me, even if it is a blessing, it will only annoy me so thus it becomes a curse. That, must be it…don’t “irritate” your spouse especially in the mornings! Got it!

And I don’t completely understand how today’s verse fits with “not being irritable” but I guess I will just go with it. Maybe it means that if you “rule your spirit” and are “slow to anger” you won’t be irritable? Okay, let’s run with that!!

Today’s Dare: Choose today to react to tough circumstances in your marriage in loving ways instead of with irritation. Begin by making a list of areas where you need to add margin to your schedule. Then list any wrong motivations that you need to release from your life.

Hummmmm…less irritable….now that IS going to be a challenge……

My Favorite Headlines:

As always, email me YOUR spiritual questions, top favorite headline picks or your “off the record” comments to NoShoes@charter.net. I will include your name and city, and if the headline pick is interesting, appropriate and not offensive, I will post them!

ADVISORY: Users are solely responsible for opinions they post here and for following agreed-upon rules of civility. Comments do not reflect the views of The Virginian-Pilot or its Web sites. Comments are automatically checked for inappropriate language, but readers might find some comments offensive or inaccurate. If you believe a comment violates our rules, click the "Report Violation" link below the comment.

The Love Dare, Day 3 & 4!

Day 3 was based on the scripture verse: Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor (Romans 12:10) and our challenge was to, in addition to saying nothing negative, we were to purchase something that says “I was thinking of you”. After giving it a great deal of thought I decided not to buy him anything, only he can understand this, but he would appreciate it a whole lot more if I DIDN’T spend any money. So I didn’t, but I did tell him how much I appreciated the incredible way he provides for his family. PS: He was doing the bills when I left for the grocery store and he was NOT happy!

Day 4 was based on the scripture verse: “How precious also are Your thoughts to me. . . .How vast is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand.” (Psalm 139:17–18) and our challenge was to contact our spouse sometime during the business of the day. Have no agenda other than asking how he is doing and if there is anything I can do for him. That was super easy; we do that all the time for each other. Of course I had a very busy day and had a little trouble getting in touch with him, but I did finally talk to him in the afternoon and he was really busy too, we chatted for about 15 minutes. He didn’t need anything except a day off. I still don’t think he suspects a thing.

Day 5: Love is not rude! Today’s dare is based on the scripture verse: “He who blesses his friend with a loud voice early in the morning, it will be reckoned a curse to him.” (Proverbs 27:14) and our challenge is to ask my spouse to tell me three things that cause him to be uncomfortable or irritated with me. I must do so without attacking him or justifying my behavior. This is from his perspective only….well how convenient this little "dare" is because last night I completely blew the whole “don’t say anything negative today”. I got home late and I discovered my kids acted like a couple of Diva’s at dinner and Daddy didn’t call them on it. Of course I had to say something and it was not at all positive…Wow, it only took me four days to blow it! Didn’t take long did it? So now I’m quite certain that he will be able to come up with this list very easily.

I’ll keep you posted on the three things that causes him to be “uncomfortable or irritated” with me. I bet he could come up with a lot more than three today, but if they are too aweful, I’ll just include the "worst" three…you don’t really want to know what a complete schmuck I can be....do you?

My Favorite Headlines:

As always, email me YOUR spiritual questions, top favorite headline picks or your “off the record” comments to NoShoes@charter.net. I will include your name and city, and if the headline pick is interesting, appropriate and not offensive, I will post them!

ADVISORY: Users are solely responsible for opinions they post here and for following agreed-upon rules of civility. Comments do not reflect the views of The Virginian-Pilot or its Web sites. Comments are automatically checked for inappropriate language, but readers might find some comments offensive or inaccurate. If you believe a comment violates our rules, click the "Report Violation" link below the comment.

The Love Dare, Day 2

Doing one unexpected gesture of kindness was not as easy as I thought it would be. I guess I should have just kept it simple, but sadly I didn’t. I went to the video store but I absolutely could not bring myself to watch Napoleon Dynamite (again), so I wandered around the store looking for something, anything that could possibly be remotely interesting, funny and something my husband would enjoy. After unintentionally selecting the worst video in the store I got dinner and headed home. To my defense it had an actor in it we both like, however even that fact couldn’t save it. When I got home I looked the movie up on Christian Spotlight only to discover it did not have one single positive thing to say about it. Even though it is a Christian website, it still usually has at least one positive thing, but not this movie. I guess I should have looked it up before I left, but I am an impulse buyer, so rarely do I ever make a purchase (unless its groceries) that aren’t impulse. Anyway, we decided to watch it anyway. We watched “The Invention of Lying”. Not only was it incredibly stupid, it was not at all funny and it was a direct insult on the intelligence of all people of faith. I know better than to go to the video store unless I KNOW exactly what I am looking for, but like I said, I’m an impulse purchaser…it’s one of my many flaws. After watching it, I felt so bad because it was so horrible and I am in fact supposed to be making a gesture of “kindness”; not stupidity and cruelty! It truly was cruel to ask anyone to sit through that movie. But being the amusing guy that he is, he just made funny wise cracks throughout the entire thing and I was entertained anyway.

Full of guilt for completely blowing an obviously simple task, I then offered to give him a massage (which I rarely do – hence the unexpected) and because he works so hard and his muscles are always so sore, it was just the ticket! So I completely fumbled the ball in the first three quarters of the game but I did finally score a touch down at last!

Day 3’s challenge on the surface appears to be much easier, but I still haven’t done it yet. In addition to being an impulse buyer, I am a procrastinator too. So here I am at 3:00 in the afternoon and still trying to figure out what to purchase for him. Today’s dare is based on the scripture verse: Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor (Romans 12:10) and our challenge is to, in addition to saying nothing negative today, we are to purchase something that says “I was thinking of you”. Hummmmm…what could that possibly be? I was going to buy him a milk shake from Arbys because those are his favorite, but he just walked in with one. Funny thing about buying your loved one some comfort food is that it not only says “I was thinking of you”, but it also tells them that you love them no matter how many extra pounds they put on. Which is a good thing for me cause I’m not getting any smaller these days. Okay, so now I have to go find something that says “I was thinking of you today”?!?! Off I go to put my impulse purchasing power to the test….

ADVISORY: Users are solely responsible for opinions they post here and for following agreed-upon rules of civility. Comments do not reflect the views of The Virginian-Pilot or its Web sites. Comments are automatically checked for inappropriate language, but readers might find some comments offensive or inaccurate. If you believe a comment violates our rules, click the "Report Violation" link below the comment.

The Love Dare, Day 1.5

Wow, sounds like a star date…"The Love Dare", stardate1.5. I am such a nerd, I know. Okay, so how did the first day of unleashing the love go? It went great! Although I have to admit that my husband and I only say negative things to each other only when we are fighting…so we have 39 more days to go, maybe we will let loose and I’ll have a lot of exciting things to share. However, we don’t fight much anymore. I think we’re too old and tired now. Sometimes at the end of the day, we only have enough energy to crawl over to the couch and turn on the stupid TV. We sit down on the couch together and we’re even too tired to fight over the remote. Last night was no exception. After a long day at work, Mark came home and made dinner while I took care of the kids. After they went to bed we hung out and watched The Office together. He taped it and we had a good laugh rewinding it and playing all of the really funny “that’s what she said” moments. I know, I do watch way too much TV; but then, I did a very self sacrificing thing….yeah, I watched Nacho Libre. Normally I do put up a fuss about it, but when ever Napoleon Dynamite and Nacho Libre are on I get roped into watching them. We are very blessed because we have our very own copy of Nacho Libre!!! Yahoooooo for me!! Although it is funny, it is funny in that – ooops your boss just slipped on a pile of dog poo or your best friend came out of the rest room with her panty hose tucked into her skirt. Funny and scary that you laughed at all! We had fun just hanging out and I did not say anything negative to my husband at all. But like I said, that is pretty easy for us! This may be the most boring “Love Dare” journal you’ve ever read….sorry!

Day 2 – Today’s “dare” is based on the scripture verse “Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.”  Ephesians 4:32. Our dare is to, in addition to saying nothing negative, do at least one unexpected gesture as an act of kindness.

Well it is after 3:45 pm and I still haven’t come up with anything yet. Maybe I’ll go rent Napoleon Dynamite??? I’ll need to get some wine for that too! I’ll keep you posted….

ADVISORY: Users are solely responsible for opinions they post here and for following agreed-upon rules of civility. Comments do not reflect the views of The Virginian-Pilot or its Web sites. Comments are automatically checked for inappropriate language, but readers might find some comments offensive or inaccurate. If you believe a comment violates our rules, click the "Report Violation" link below the comment.