I dare you to love...

I was mopping my floor yesterday and thinking about my husband. Our anniversary is approaching and I was in deep thoughtful prayer about how blessed I am to have a husband like Lem.

Many, many days I take him for granted. Sad, but so true.

I decided to create my own love dare for him.  I had followed the Love Dare book 2 years ago and it produced wonderful results in our marriage. Since then I have loaned the book out...and have no idea who I loaned it to. Oops. 

I invited my friends to participate on this journey with me. So far, 24 friends are on board. They are very kind to let me just wing this. I have no idea what activities lie ahead of us, but I am praying fervently for God's direction....and for their input!

My heart has a long way to go in the marriage department. I wanted my friends along with me for the accountability and encouragement. I need it. The most.

Our marriages need to be strong so we can build strong families. It's God's desire.

I need all the help I can get.

So, yesterday was our Day 1. The dare was to leave a note on our spouse's pillow telling him your very favorite thing about him.

Today I sent this email for our Day 2. I will try to post these on my blog as we go.  If you really want to jump in with us, I can also send you an email if you will share your email address with me.

Jump in! I dare you...

 Day 2:

Good morning! Thank you again for doing this with me. I KNOW you will be blessed on this journey. Some days will definitely be harder than others because of how we are feeling that day. Some days we will not want to show love to our spouses because we are mad, moody, bitter, etc..or all of the above like me! :) However, God commands us to love even when our flesh tells us different. This is exactly what sets us apart as Christians.


I did the Love Dare book 2 years ago and God restored some brokenness in my heart while I was doing the dare.Lem had no idea that I was doing the book, and some days it was hard. I stayed the course and our marriage was blessed because of obedience. I have slid a long way back since coming to that point, so that's why I want to do this again. For my own heart.

You may come to a point while doing this when you will say to yourself.."What about ME?" I came to that point too...Many days! (and i still do!)

However, if we believe God's word then we know that He will bless our marriages when we are obedient to God's calling to love. We will see the fruit of our obedience. His word never returns void.

Again, I will not be following the book this time...because I have loaned it out. We will just kind of be winging this! However, some of the activities that are still fresh in my mind we may do.

So, today is Thursday and today's dare is this:

**Pray for your spouse all day today. Don't pray for him to change (which is tempting!)...but instead thank God for your spouse. Tell God how grateful and thankful you are for the spouse He hand-picked for YOU. When you are in the shower, drying your hair, in the long carpool line, cooking dinner...whatever it is...pray prayers of thanksgiving to God for your man. Spill your heart to God about how much you love your man and how thankful you are for him. (even if you are not feeling too loving...thank God anyway.)**

Not only will this draw our hearts closer to our husbands by praying for them, but it will in turn draw us closer to God. A double whammy! Yay!

"In everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." 1 Thessalonians 5:18

I'm praying for you. Let's go show some LOVE!

with a thankful heart,

jill