Love Dare Day Six - OH MY!

Happy February! Can you believe it?! We are already in month two of 2016. The LOOOOOVE month. Well the love month for me anyway. One because of Valentine’s and two because my husband and I’s fifteen year anniversary is less than two weeks following the Hallmark holiday. I began the Love Dare as a sort of “lead up” to our big day. So how’s it been going? I quit. I couldn’t do it anymore, too mushy, too embarrassing. Just kidding!!! Although it seems to be getting a bit 

more challenging emotionally, and I’m sure the temptation do so may grow more each day. And I certainly had an embarrassing moment on day three.

I shared day one and two, my hubby began to pick up on something being “different”, with just me remaining positive and sharing a few acts of kindness. Friday, day three, was no different. The dare was to buy a gift. My problem is not that I don’t like to buy gifts, but I LOVE to buy them. Gift giving is my favorite. I just love it. But I had to keep my husband in mind. You see, the runner up to the inventory we did last week, was our finances. We both have goals we’d like to meet in this area of our lives, and I knew this. So I needed to get something that wasn’t too costly, but would be meaningful for HIM – not me.

What’s a girl to do? Well, I sought God’s advice and said a prayer. I was surprised by the thoughts that came to mind…something intimate, something edible (not necessarily both of those things combined), and something loving, with a focus on respect. Oooooookaaaaaay…

I knew I would be heading to the store to get party supplies for my daughter’s birthday that evening, I could pick up a few things there, comprise a goody bag with my husband in mind. Right away I made my way to the very small section of, how should I say it, “intimates” products. Chose something quickly and did my best to disguise my choice beside my purse. My feeling of relief was quickly swept away when I looked over to one of my daughter’s former swim coaches just smiiiiling at me. Oh how I love living in a small town. I grin, nod, and move on, face about ten shades of red – something intimate, check.

What to eat? what to eat? The Valentine’s isle was full of goodies, but I didn’t want to go there. Plus, he’s been trying to keep it Whole30 with me. But then again, I felt like it should be a treat – I mean, I wasn’t making a lemon grass cake for my daughter’s birthday because of our eating philosophy, why should I treat my husband to something similar? I chose some of his favorite candies – something edible, check.

Time was closing in on me, I still needed to get the party favors for my daughter’s gathering and I would have about eight girls ready to go, in just about an hour.  A card. I’ll get him a card. Again, no shortage of Valentine’s cards, not going that route. Head to the “love” cards. Meh, too many things that don’t “fit” us. Alas, a card! Simple, and fitting for my honey – something loving with a focus on respect, check. Time to get the birthday goodies!
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Made my rounds and headed to the checkout. Not without passing the swim coach a SEVERAL MORE TIMES – same grin, same red face. Not only that, but I had to dodge a few people I knew, just to avoid the infamous “hey let’s catch up in the store because we hardly see one another and oh by the way what’s that there in your cart” moments. Mercy, why did I come in here on a Friday?! I’m checking out, feeling relatively victorious, and embarrassment subsiding, when I hear some masculine snickers behind me.

I’m sure it looked quite interesting: birthday blow horns, cans of crazy string, an air horn, and then – the “intimate”. Why wouldn’t the lady ring out faster?! Why couldn’t she just scan it FIRST?! When she finally did, she grinned as if she was thinking, “Honey, I know. I know.” Lord, help me get out of here. And in that moment, I felt as if he was sort of amused by the whole thing. Oh the sacrifices we make for those we love. Ha!

Once I gave him the gift, he was surprised and gracious (he should’ve been after what I just went through, just kidding). He even giggled a bit, not even knowing the story. What got me though, was the moment my daughters realized I had given him a gift (although they were unaware of EACH ITEM in the gift bag) “just because”. They both expressed how sweet it was, my oldest even said “Awe, hashtag goals. You two make me want to have someone to share with.” Now that is something! Modeling loving behavior and having your teenager in awe – priceless!

Day four and five were less eventful. My youngest ended up getting really sick following her birthday party, which called for the majority of my attention. We relaxed at home with her yesterday, we didn’t even make it to church. But my husband and I wrote on paper the things that made us uncomfortable or irritated us. My list was more emotional, where his was more task driven – an identified area of where we differ on what we view as important. BUT – another opportunity to change things and discuss what is important to us. Again, my oldest was amused by our “letter passing” and very curious on what we are up to. She has Instagram, so while I am not posting the dares there, I think she read the blog post and is entertained by the things I come up with for her dad. Plus, she is a romantic, so she is thoroughly enjoying this live romantic saga unfolding before her very eyes ;)

Wow! This was a loooong post, sorry if it was too much. I hope your Love Dare is going well. I’m praying for several folks and believing God will move in your lives, the way He is moving in mine – and hopefully without TOO many embarrassing moments!