A P30x for Wives: Tips to keep your marriage strong

I know that Christmas time (and maybe just ANYTIME) can be stressful.
And I thought since it is getting to be that crazy, full-schedule time of year, a post with a few practical ways we can keep our marriage strong during it all was appropriate.

If you are married, you gotta get a hold of a few things.

Here's a little somethin somethin for ya...
"The wife must see to it that she respects her husband"

I loved reading this verse in the Amplified Version 

...let the wife see that she respects and reverences her husband that she notices him, regards him, honors him, prefers him, venerates, and esteems him; and that she defers to him, praises him, and loves and admires him exceedingly. [Ephesians 5:33]

Read that again...the wife part.

When life gets busy, and we have a million things to do, isn't it easy to kind of neglect some of the basics?

Let me break down some of the words used in this version - 

*Notice him
    -When he walks by you, even if you are doing something else, reach out and grab his hand for a second. If you are on your computer when he walks in the room, get up and give him a hug, or just look up and make eye contact.
Greet him at the door when he comes home from work.
Just show you are noticing him! 

*Prefer him
    -When you have the chance to go out with the girls, or to stay up with your hubby watching tv, choose him! 
If you have a choice of what to watch on tv...try watching the game with him.
It won't kill you to miss that rerun of house hunters.
Show him he's your first choice of someone to hang out with!

*Venerate him
    -Ya, I was out with this one at first. I didn't know what that meant, to be honest. Turns out, it means to honor, as an icon. And in case you didn't know, an icon means a work of art.
Now...for those of us sarcastic people, don't use it as an excuse to call him a work of art, a piece of work, etc. That will defeat the entire purpose of this post! haha!
But, it just goes along with everything else in this verse. It's about thinking highly of him. Whether or not he deserves it. Let's face it, none of us deserve it most of the time! But you, as his wife, should not be like any other person. Treat him better than every other person you know!

*Esteem him
     -Talk about him behind his back... in a good way.
Brag about the kind of husband you have. Leave him a note telling him you're thankful that he works hard, or that he makes you laugh, or that he makes the bed. Whatever it is, start talking about your man boo!
Start esteeming him in your mind, and that is what will come out of your mouth!

*Admire him exceedingly 
     -One of the definitions of admire says "to look at with pleasure"
Did you hear that? 
LOOK at him with pleasure! 
Girlfriends...your face can say a lot! 
Let him catch you staring at him. Tell him you were just thinking about how you appreciate the kind of dad he is. How you love the way he makes you feel beautiful. Whatever it is...admire him.

This one isn't in there, but pray for him!
I have been praying for Adam to have joy, to hunger and thirst after righteousness. 
I've been praying that he will be strengthened with the Holy Spirit's power, and many other verses that I come across.
I pray that he will be patient, that he will stay faithful, that he will be a strong leader.
When I start out my day praying for him, I am in a much better position to respect and honor him.
And way less likely to get irritated and annoyed as easily.

Respect is something that our husbands need. 
AND - It is something we are capable of providing for them!

Don't let the craziness of life start excusing you from:

your duty.

your responsibility.

your role.

know your role!

Don't think that your marriage is going to stay strong without a little work.
Sometimes we can be disrespectful by just the way that we work so hard at everything else...our jobs, our kids, our exercising, and we don't even show our man that we care enough about him to work hard!

Think of it like a p90x workout schedule.
Can we just make it 30 days? 90 might be a bit much.
POWER 30 EXTREME, baby!!
Let's try and take the next 30 days and get our mad-wife-power on and venerate the daylights out of our husbands!
I even made a calendar for you!

Y

You can fill in the blanks with specific things you are going to do! (See how I snuck my birthday in there?)

Who's in?