Always make your bed.....

Hello to my Beloved Readers - always make your bed!

This is vital advice to maintain and grow your marriages :)

I just bet you are thinking that I am crazy. How can making a bed be vital to your relationship with your mate?

Do I have your curiosity aroused? Read on and then let me know what you think.

I was making the bed the other day and almost stopped making it. I was running late...... Then a little tug on my heart strings said, "Make that bed - it's the time you to pray for Paul and your marriage." So - guess what? --- I did indeed make that bed. As I was making it I prayed as I always do,

for my husband;

for his protection, thankful for him and his partnership with me, for his wisdom, for his health, for his relationship with his children and our God, for us.......

Now listen here - beloved ones -

I started this process of "bed-making prayer" many years ago. And it has never failed me, or Paul. Praying for your spouse daily, purposefully and intentionally secures your relationship to him. It is another foundational practice that will grow you closer.

And one last benefit here - what can be a very mundane chore - becomes one of eternal value....

So - that is why I encourage you to always make your bed.....

The best thing fathers can do...

My Beloved Readers - how I smile as I think of you all... my own children, their spouses and my precious friends.

I was listening to a radio program the other day and thought of all of you. And, I believe this with all my heart. Fathers - the best action you can do for your children is to love your wife. As children observe, listen, hear, watch... they see you as you love your wife - their mother. They feel secure and safe in that love.

Our children will leave us someday - they need to leave and then cleave to their spouses. Therefore, they must know that they are precious - but that they will go and grow. They truly are not the center of my relationship with Paul, my husband. They will become all that God intended them to be. They are the parents of the future! How exciting! How right it is....

It is also very interesting to me that the Bible tells husbands to "Love your wives.....Ephesians 5:25." It doesn't tell wives to love their husbands. Isn't that interesting???? Perhaps it is because women love their husbands easily and men need to be purposeful in their love of their wives. Perhaps they need to be reminded. All I know, is that if the Bible says it - the most "wise" book ever written - then it must be sage advice.

So - men - love your wives. And women - encourage that love. It is good, strong and proven advice. Now it is your choice if you will follow it or not. It is also your privilege to determine what that love looks like......

Go, Beloved Readers, ponder this advice. And as always, let me know your thoughts... they are precious to me, just as you are....

Happy Mother's Day 2011!