My Life as Mama Jodi

These are from my hubby for Mother’s Day (of course the kitty had to get in the picture). He gave me a really sappy card too. Made me cry! I had to call him to thank him for these, as I have been gone for the last day and a half, and he and Trent are at the races until late tonight.

I was at my Ladies Retreat for church. What an amazing time I had! I will share later, as I am ready to go take a nice long soak in the tub, then off to bed!

Send a Single Red Rose

Begin a tradition of sending your spouse a single red rose or a box of candy on some particular day. Send it on the same day every year. Let it become your own holiday. Consider taking this day off work because of its significance.

Want to join, then head on over to Winning at Home with Dan Seaborn.

Try Love Listening

When your spouse is talking to you, look at her/him and listen carefully. Be thinking about what you are saying to each other and absorb each word rather than preparing your counter statement. When you truly listen, your conversations will deepen your love for each other.

Want to join, then head on over to Winning at Home with Dan Seaborn.

Love how they look!

Tell your spouse you love how he/she looks. Yes you’re right—looks shouldn’t determine how you feel about your spouse. But we all know it matters. That’s why it’s important to do what you can to take care of your body and look nice for some of your times together on the town or even at home. Do it for each other.

Want to join, then head on over to Winning at Home with Dan Seaborn.

The Gift of Good Ears

What is the one thing that sets apart the most valued friends from all others? What single quality is most appreciated in friendship? Probably not mutual interests. Probably not shared experiences. Probably not even a similar sense of humor. No, take a good look at your friendships, and what you’ll likely discover is that the best and closest of your friends have one thing in common: they listen.

Good friends take time to really hear each other. More than just being quiet, more than just sitting there, more than tuning out, they’re engaged, they’re interested, they’re working to understand. And the same is true of good spouses. The husband and wife who develop listening skills with each other will benefit from a deeper friendship in their marriage—a stronger bond between them.

It’s very possible that the most powerful gift we can give to our spouse is the gift of two good ears. Instead of spacing out, butting in, offering easy answers, speeding up the chatter, forgetting key points, dozing off, changing the subject, or keeping one ear tuned elsewhere, we can do our best to hear what our spouse has to say. We can do this by active listening:

1. Let your body language convey your interest and concern. Maintain eye contact, lean forward, nod, avoid fidgeting or dividing your attention among other things.

2. Ask questions that will familiarize you with the circumstances and help you understand better.

3. Tolerate pauses and silence. (People are more likely to open up when you allow for a space in which they can do so.)

4. Treat the conversation like it’s something to be remembered. Take notice of details so you can ask follow-up questions later.

5. LISTEN. Keep your mouth shut and let the other person steer the conversation. (Often people care far less about hearing solutions than they do about seeing real concern.)

6. Let things be awful sometimes. When another person is hurting, often the shallowest reaction in the world is “It’ll be OK.” Easy answers like that dismiss pain, so when something is awful, acknowledge it as such. Really acknowledge it before you try to move forward.

By developing these habits, you create a place where your husband or wife can open up, where they can be heard and truly known. Try it with your spouse today, and you’ll find that listening helps you to connect with each other in new and deeper ways, that opening your ears can close many of the gaps between you.

This feature is adapted from chapter one of “The Necessary Nine: How to Stay Happily Married for Life” by Dan Seaborn and Peter Newhouse, PhD, with Lisa Velthouse (release date: September 2007). To reserve your advance copy of this book, contact Winning At Home.

John and I have signed up for the Married 4 Life progam over at Winning at Home with Dan Seaborn.

From the get go divorce was not going to be an option for either of us. We are committed for life. Sure we have struggles, but we work through them and lean on God for our strength.

So if you are committed to your marriage 100%, then head on over and join the M4L and be part of 1 millions couples that are married 4 life!

This was posted on the mom board I co own, that I thought fit well with this post:

The ring finger

Why should the wedding ring be worn on the fourth finger? There is a beautiful and convincing explanation given by the Chinese..

The Thumb represents your Parents.

Second (Index) finger represents your Siblings.

Middle finger represents your-Self .

Fourth (Ring) finger represents your Life Partner.

And the Last (Little) finger represents your children.

First, open your palms (face to face), bend the middle fingers and hold them together - back to back.

Second, open and hold the remaining three fingers and the thumb - tip to tip

Now, try to separate your thumbs (representing the parents)…they will open, because your parents are not destined to live with you lifelong, and have to leave you sooner or later.

Please join your thumbs as before and separate your Index fingers (representing siblings)…they will also open, because your brothers and sisters will have their own families and will have to lead their own separate lives.

Now join the Index fingers and separate your Little fingers (representing your children)… they will open too, because the children also will get married and settle down on their own some day.

Finally, join your Little fingers, and try to separate your Ring fingers (representing your spouse). You will be surprised to see that you just cannot…..because Husband & Wife have to remain together all their lives - through thick and thin!!

Please try this out………….
ISN’T THIS A LOVELY THEORY?