Andrea's Love Dare- Day 1

Today's challenge was all about being patient and kind to our spouses, the scripture being James 1:19.

I have always felt that one of my God given gifts was that of patience, well that is, unless I'm driving. But that's a different story for a different time! Anyway, I think of myself as a very patient person seeing as I am slow to anger, and more than willing most of the time to wait for things I want. That said, my wonderful husband, whom I LOVE, does try my patience at times. He is such a sweet man, but he absolutely loves to tease. It's a form of endearment to him. If he feels comfortable around you, he teases you. I grew up much younger than my other four siblings (my brother is almost 8 years my senior, and is the 2nd youngest) and they never really teased me. I was just the baby that they spoiled! So my husband, being the teaser that he is, can easily get on my nerves. I know he just does it because he loves me, and thinks it's funny/cute to get a reaction out of me, but I sometimes find myself snapping at him, or flicking him, or doing something to make him stop! So today, I just tried to be slow to anger. I didn't react when he did certain things, I just smiled and kissed his hand instead! This was not my main area of focus today though. Like I said, I feel like I am, overall, a pretty patient person.

My main emphasis today was on being "slow to speak,"  as it says in the verse in James. As most women, I love to indulge in a little gossip now and then. I have a few people I tell almost everything to, but one person in particular is like my venting buddy! If anything in life is not going our way, we vent to each other about it. She and I talk almost daily, and there usually ends up being at least one conversation a week about something that our husbands did that made us mad. Now, last night, my husband did something that kind of ticked me off a little, but I knew it wasn't on purpose. This person and I talked for over an hour and a half, and I didn't bring this topic up once. I very easily could have gone off on a tangent about how I annoyed I was at what Tyler had done, but instead we talked about other things. I found that by not talking bad about him, I got over this little bump much faster. I was able to forget, and move on, instead of letting that dictate my attitude for the day.

It was a wonderful day, and I felt like we had a greater peace in our home, simply because of a little attitude adjustment on my part. I was able to enjoy my time with him more so than if I had been concentrating on the night before. Although I didn't feel like this day was particularly challenging, it did bring awareness to what should really be important to me, and what I should spend my time thinking and talking about. It was a wonderful first day, and I am excited for tomorrow!