For this month's 9 on the 9th carnival hosted by Mrs. Naz at All that Naz, I am going with 9 ways to say I love you, because we can never communicate this too much!
1. Touch is one of my favorite ways to say I care. Do you know your partner/friend/child's love language? Touch is both mine and Hunny's communicator, so massages or just holding hands makes both of us feel so special. Bear especially loves being held by Daddy, and Bunkin is still nursing, so we get to bond in these ways.
2. Related to touching, don't forget to play! Peek-a-boo, tracing letters to guess, giving wet willies.... these all say "you're special" but in a silly kind of way. And we definitely need more silly.
3. Love letters. Any one who knows me knows that I just LOVE getting letters... mail, email, a little note... I love the written word! It only takes two seconds to write "I love you" on a mirror in lipstick (and a friend of mine likes to write racy messages to her hubby on the glass while he's showering so that they get revealed while he's showering!). We're not at lunchbox stage with the boys (and probably won't be as I want to homeschool), but I would have been thrilled to get a sweet note of encouragement from my mom in my packed lunch. Hunny has sweetly collected all the notes I've ever written him... and I know he loves them, too.
4. Quiet time. I can't stress this one enough. At our old house, I used to fuss at Hunny when he spent after hours in his office, which was at the back of the house instead of adjacent to the family room such as in our first house. The reason was I enjoyed just seeing him and spending time together, even if we were both working on different projects, I wanted to share space with him. Even better is actually getting rid of the extra activities and just taking time to be quiet with one another. Remember the sound of his heartbeat, breathe together, relax.
5. This is a no-brainer: SAY IT!!! Don't just assume everyone knows how you feel about them... say it over and over and over.
6. Use your gifts... you don't have to go buy something to bestow a gift on someone. You can give the gift of time and talents to make someone feel special. If you are crafty, personalizing that stationary tells your sister she's great; if you are a baker, make those cookies, and share!
7. Read 1 Corinthians chapter 13. Dubbed the "love chapter," it often gets a lot of attention without a lot of deep reading... after reading Martha Peace's books, I was challenged to really pay attention to what the Biblical definition of love was... and I do not always measure up or have true expectations from others. These verses tell me what my priorities need to be and what biblical love looks like. For romantic love, it sure doesn't hurt to read Song of Solomon either.
8. Remember. We so often tend to remember only negative things or "keep lists" of wrongs. How about upsetting that trend and remembering why you fell in love, or remembering the good things about the person you love so much. It helps you focus on what to love and why when it's hard, and it helps your loved one because they are then able to bask in your admiration and respect.
9. Pray... again, this should be a no-brainer, but I am ashamed how often I have to be reminded to pray for my loved ones.
1. Touch is one of my favorite ways to say I care. Do you know your partner/friend/child's love language? Touch is both mine and Hunny's communicator, so massages or just holding hands makes both of us feel so special. Bear especially loves being held by Daddy, and Bunkin is still nursing, so we get to bond in these ways.
2. Related to touching, don't forget to play! Peek-a-boo, tracing letters to guess, giving wet willies.... these all say "you're special" but in a silly kind of way. And we definitely need more silly.
3. Love letters. Any one who knows me knows that I just LOVE getting letters... mail, email, a little note... I love the written word! It only takes two seconds to write "I love you" on a mirror in lipstick (and a friend of mine likes to write racy messages to her hubby on the glass while he's showering so that they get revealed while he's showering!). We're not at lunchbox stage with the boys (and probably won't be as I want to homeschool), but I would have been thrilled to get a sweet note of encouragement from my mom in my packed lunch. Hunny has sweetly collected all the notes I've ever written him... and I know he loves them, too.
4. Quiet time. I can't stress this one enough. At our old house, I used to fuss at Hunny when he spent after hours in his office, which was at the back of the house instead of adjacent to the family room such as in our first house. The reason was I enjoyed just seeing him and spending time together, even if we were both working on different projects, I wanted to share space with him. Even better is actually getting rid of the extra activities and just taking time to be quiet with one another. Remember the sound of his heartbeat, breathe together, relax.
5. This is a no-brainer: SAY IT!!! Don't just assume everyone knows how you feel about them... say it over and over and over.
6. Use your gifts... you don't have to go buy something to bestow a gift on someone. You can give the gift of time and talents to make someone feel special. If you are crafty, personalizing that stationary tells your sister she's great; if you are a baker, make those cookies, and share!
7. Read 1 Corinthians chapter 13. Dubbed the "love chapter," it often gets a lot of attention without a lot of deep reading... after reading Martha Peace's books, I was challenged to really pay attention to what the Biblical definition of love was... and I do not always measure up or have true expectations from others. These verses tell me what my priorities need to be and what biblical love looks like. For romantic love, it sure doesn't hurt to read Song of Solomon either.
8. Remember. We so often tend to remember only negative things or "keep lists" of wrongs. How about upsetting that trend and remembering why you fell in love, or remembering the good things about the person you love so much. It helps you focus on what to love and why when it's hard, and it helps your loved one because they are then able to bask in your admiration and respect.
9. Pray... again, this should be a no-brainer, but I am ashamed how often I have to be reminded to pray for my loved ones.
2 comments:
Wonderful wonderful list! Thank you so much for playing along and for not making me feel so alone in my weirdness
I love this list!!! (Especially the Quiet Time. HaHaHa!)
Post a Comment