Love your wife…lead your family.

Kids watch. The older I get one of the things that shows love the most is how spouses treat each other especially in front of the children. I want my son to see the way to treat a woman in the way my husband treats me. I am not referring to gifts (though that is nice), I am talking about kind words and actions that show love.

The tone of your voice. The words that are spoken. The sacrifice of your time. The things that keep a marriage strong and going even when getting along and growing old is challenging. During Sunday school, a kid gave me this answer while filling out the craft and it almost made me cry. This dad gets it and the child sees it.

Love your wife…lead your family.

How do you show love to your spouse?

I love my spouse, but how we each show and receive love is very different. I am a quality time girl. Love to me is snuggles on the couch, date nights, sleeping in late, vacations to the beach. In short: time!

My husband is very different. He is Acts of Service. Love to him is work. He likes a clean house, a chore that needs to be done, working on a project together to get it done faster. Productivity and progress makes his day! So clearly we are different, so how do we make it work?

Step 1 is recognizing how the other receives love and doing it graciously. This is hard for me since I like to be comfortable and lazy. Step 2 is accepting just because we are giving, does not mean the other is receiving. I am on Cloud 9 on a date night, but he might be feeling nothing so I have to remember though my love tank is full…he still has room to be filled which means I have to be intentional about showing love even after a great night.

It is hard when two languages are so different but worth it when the marriage is working and growing. The question I have to keep asking is “Am I giving as much as I am receiving?” If I can honestly answer no then time to get to work!