30 Ways in 30 Days
The title is intriguing isn’t it?? I thought it would get your attention. 
Here’s the scoop…I’ve been seeing a trend lately where the only thing I hear from my married friends is everything that is wrong with their husbands. I am the first one to admit that there are probably a LOT of valid things we wives can find “wrong” with our husbands ~ not helping out around the house enough, not finishing our “honey-do” lists, not spending quality time with the kids, etc. But I believe if we continually focus all of our attention on these not-so-pleasant areas of our mate, it won’t be long before we forget why we married them in the first place. So, instead of always noticing the things my hubby doesn’t do, I am going to choose to notice the things he does do. Beginning September 1, 2012, I want to focus on one thing each day that my husband does that makes my heart melt, something that I would normally take for granted, and share it with you. The goal is to highlight 30 different ways that I love him, and to do it in 30 days. Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with our marriage. But I want to keep it that way and to let him (and the world) know just how much I do notice what he does for me and our family on a daily basis.
I hope you will join me on this journey of discovery with your own husband, or maybe even your child(ren). I am betting when the month is over, we’ll have a LOT less to complain about. Before I get started, I want to share a picture from our wedding day. This is the day our exciting adventure began…
Thirty Ways I Love My Husband….(in no particular order)
Day 1: I love the way my husband loves me! He is so tender, kind, affectionate and patient! I can honestly say that at least one time each day (usually more) he will tell me that he loves me, that I’m beautiful, that he’s the luckiest man to have me… I could go on. Even when I’m cranky, he will put his arms around me, smile and tell me that I’m cute when I’m cranky. I am so blessed!
Day 2: This is fitting since today is Sunday…but I love the way my husband loves the Lord! He is so passionate about the Great Commission and making disciples all around the world. There is something special about seeing your mate surrender his life and willing to sacrifice everything he has to serve the Lord. I am honored to be his helpmate.
Day 3: Today I love the way my husband is vulnerable with me. Most men don’t share their thoughts or anxieties with anyone, let alone their spouse. But my man shares almost everything with me ~ to the point where I probably know him better than he knows himself. He is so open and honest even when its hard to be and I believe that makes our intimacy so much deeper. We truly are best friends!
Day 4: I love the way I “catch” him looking at me. Sometimes I will look over at him to say something, and he’s just sitting there staring at me. The love he has for me shines in his eyes and is so comforting. I find myself doing the same thing…just looking at him for no reason at all and sometimes he’ll catch me. It’s like a little game we play, but I think I’m better at not getting caught!
Day 5: I love the way my husband takes care of us. Being a self-employed rancher, he is constantly thinking about ways to provide for our everyday needs. Not only that, but he finds ways to pamper us with little indulgences. Just yesterday he wanted to bless me with a spa day! Oh how I love those….but I declined it, not because I didn’t want it (I so desperately do!) but because I just don’t have the time right now. However, I may be able to find time for a mani/pedi as a substitute!
Day 6: I love the way my husband goes out of his way to do something for me. Even when he has a busy day ahead of him, he’ll ask me if there is anything he can do for me that would make my day easier. I usually don’t take him up on the offer, but it sure is a blessing knowing that he would be there if I needed him.
Day 7: I love the way my husband is so positive! Yes, he has those moments where he gets discouraged or disappointed, but they don’t last for long! He is almost always bubbly and happy ~ a vibe I love to be around!
Day 8: I love the way my husband tells a story. He is so captivating and interesting to listen to ~ even if he has already told the story before. I could sit and listen to him all day long.
Day 9: I love the way my husband always makes time for his little girl. She LOVES to ride on the four-wheeler, and the horse, and even if he’s busy, he’ll put her on and let her go for a ride. He loves seeing her smile, and that makes me smile.
Day 10: I love the way my husband laughs! I can be having a terrible, stressful day and if I hear him laughing, my mood instantly lightens. It’s contagious too ~ even Anna Laura perks up and smiles whenever she hears her daddy laugh.
Day 11: I love the way my husband leans over to kiss me goodnight after we pray. I try to go to bed when he does, but I am usually up late working on a sewing project while Anna sleeps. But when we do head to bed at the same time, he’ll always end our prayer with a kiss. And then I fall asleep with a smile…
Day 12: I love the way my husband supports my sewing hobby & business ~ even when it means taking me to the fabric store ALL the time!! (I am a confessed fabric-aholic!) He enjoys seeing me happy and knows that is one way to bring a smile to my face!
Here is another picture from our wedding ~ I have just been presented with my “tribal headpiece” as we entered the reception. The ladies were singing and dancing as they put it on my head. It was an amazing experience!
Day 13: I love the way my husband encourages me in my ministries. He is my biggest supporter ~ always inspiring me to keep going, to go farther and to stay strong ~ reminding me often of how proud he is of me. I’ll never get tired of hearing that!
Day 14: I love the way my husband plays the banjo. He doesn’t play it as much as he used to, but when he brings it out of it’s case everyone loves to hear him play, especially Anna Laura. When I was pregnant with her, Steve would play the banjo and she would literally “dance” inside of me. She still goes nuts whenever her daddy plays ~ it’s her favorite!
Day 15: I love the way my husband loves my parents. Today is my mother’s birthday and thinking of the relationship they have with each other makes me smile. Many couples aren’t fortunate enough to have a loving relationship with their spouse’s parents, but my parents love him so much and we all have such a great time when we’re together.
Day 16: I love the way my husband tells me he enjoys being with me. He’ll look at me, smile and say, “I just love spending time with you!” It doesn’t matter if we’re out on a date, or just grocery shopping, we make it a point to enjoy each others company.
Day 17: I love the way my husband tries to dance! He is so cute… and totally uncoordinated! Although he’s a good slow dancer, you can’t help but laugh smile at his attempts to bust-a-move!
Day 18: I love the way my husband chips in to help me around the house. He’s always willing to lend a hand whenever I need it.
Day 19: I love the way my husband can juggle doing so many things at one time. He amazes me at how he can seem so calm on the outside while navigating so many things in his mind. With ministry, business, church and family all going on at the same time ~ he always manages to have everything under control.
Day 20: I love the way my husband makes time to have breakfast with our little one almost every morning. As soon as she wakes up, he goes into her room, gets her out of bed and has “daddy/daughter” time with her. He makes her anything from toast to bacon and eggs and she enjoys their time together so much (and I get to enjoy a little sleeping in time!)
Day 21: I love the way my husband misses me when we are away from each other. I can hear it in his voice when we talk that he longs for us to be together again, even if its just been one day. I just love that…
Day 22: I love the way my husband encourages me to continue my education. I was in the middle of working on my masters degree in Intercultural Studies when we were blessed with little Anna and he often encourages me to get back to my studies so I can complete my degree. If I can only find a few more hours in my day that might be an option.
Here’s another picture from our wedding ~ this one is of the Zulu dancers at our reception! They were awesome!
Day 23: I love the way my husband hates chocolate! It leaves more for me!
Day 24: I love the way my husband lets me watch football even though he is not a fan. His sport is baseball (which I detest!) yet if there is a football game on, he’ll relinquish the remote to me!
Day 25: I love the way my husband and I love to travel together. With our ministry and our business, we travel a LOT and we always try to travel together even if it ends up costing us more in the long run. We value our time together and make the necessary adjustments to make it happen.
Day 26: I love the way my husband reaches over and holds my hand for no reason. We could be driving, walking in the mall or grocery shopping and he’ll just reach over and grab my hand.
Day 27: I love the way my husband makes me feel safe. (no extra words needed!)
Day 28: I love the way my husband relies on me to keep up with his calendar and important meeting/business dates. It lets me know that he truly trusts me and has confidence in my organizing skills.
Day 29: I love the way my husband shows affection for me when we’re in public. It’s enough to let me (and others) know that he loves me, but not so much to make it uncomfortable.
Day 30: I love the way my husband makes “date night” a priority. Every Friday night is our standing date night (even if we have to take Anna Laura with us) and to know he thinks about it and looks forward to it makes me feel so special and loved.
I really enjoyed this 30-day challenge and I could go on and on and on, finding so many more “ways” that I love my husband! Yes, there are times that we struggle in our relationship, which is normal, but this challenge only reconfirmed that I am truly a blessed woman to have him in my life and I wouldn’t be who I am today without him. I love you Steve!
I’d love for you to take on this challenge too and share your daily “ways” with us! Together we are stronger and you may share a “way” that inspires someone else! Please comment and share below!
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Lovely post and beautiful photos. I’m so glad I’ve come across your blog
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[...] Ways in 30 Days – Day 1 During a Blog Hop last week, I happened upon this post from Kimberly over at Sew Encouraging. I was so moved that I thought it would be a good idea to [...]
I think this is a wonderful challenge. I also agree that many women do only see the negative in their husbands. I have gotten wrapped up in talking about something negative to my friends about my husband, but bless my friends hearts they told me I wasn’t alone. However, they also knew my husband loved me and my kids, and that I had a good man. (Which I do!!!) It made me feel better that they were quick to jump to his defense and remind me why I love him, when I was having a moment of despire over him not doing something that I truly wanted him to do. I honestly think my friends couldn’t have made a better response.
I do have a strong marriage and I’m married to my best friend. I wouldn’t trade him for anything in the world. There are days when things aren’t perfect, but I don’t know of a marriage that is always perfect.
What great friends you have Crystal! Usually, our friends are quick to come to our defense, rather than our husbands. This is a good lesson for us to remember for times when we need to do the same. Thanks so much for sharing and taking the time to stop by! Hope to see you again soon.
Oh, I love this!!! Thanks for the encouragement.
I am following you from the bloghop.
http://www.1001tears.blogspot.com
that dress is gorgeous sistah! i love all your reasons they are spectacular. focusing on the little irritating stuff is really an easy way to break a marriage. i salute you girl for finding so many wonderful things to share about your hubby!
Thanks so much Vanita ~ and thanks for stopping by!
I am a little late but I am going to take the challenge. I went through a challenge like this before, a friend at church gave me a sheet, Praying for Your Husband, 31 days of prayer. She does him good….”Proverbs 31:12a Bless your husband by praying for him!
Good stuff!
Coming from the blog hop.
Thanks for stopping by! And feel free to share your “ways” with the rest of us!
Mike and I are doing the Balanced and Blessed bible study at TRI-CITIES it has been a great blessing. I told Mike I would like to do this bible study and he asked me why. He stated we don’t have marital problems, I love you. I thought that was so sweet. I explained that if I have problems then he has problems, because we are as one right? So he agreed to go. How sweet.
Thats so sweet Diane! I love studying the Bible with Steve… There is nothing that brings a couple closer than coming together before God! Thanks so much for sharing and I hope you guys enjoy your study!
I recently did something very similar! For our anniversary in July, I made a list of 100 things I love about my hubby! It truly does change your perspective! Blessings!
So nice! I think your husband is lucky to have you too! & a beautiful couple!
Thanks Ann!
What a wonderful list!
Thanks Becca!
Hi! You just left a comment on my (Life on the Funny Farm) FB page, so I thought I’d come over and say hi. Great blog! And I see you have a blog hop. Can’t be a part of too many of those, right? It looked to me like that’s hosted on Tuesdays, but I couldn’t be certain. I guess if I follow along, I can always just find out that way.
Thanks again for stopping by!
Sure you can be a part of our blog hop Anne! It starts on Wednesday mornings ~ come link up anytime. Thanks for stopping by!
Stopping by from Mom’s Monday Mingle!
I read this book “The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands” that totally talks about this!
It’s been a philosophy of mine to try as hard as I can to NEVER say anything negative about my husband to other people. It’s not always easy and I’ve caught myself complaining a few times. The reason that I try, though, is because no matter what problems I’m having with my husband, I still love him and I will “get over it” but if I make him look bad in the eyes of people who don’t feel the same way then they may turn around and speak badly about him or think badly of him and I love him too much to be the cause of that!
I agree with previous posters – you made a beautiful bride!
Now following on Twitter, Pinterest and G+.
Thanks Janene! I completely agree with your philosophy! My mom had some good advice too ~ never tell her about any of our fights/problems because then, even when we make up, she will still have a skewed picture of him in her mind. She said she wants to always view him as he is in her mind. Great words, and something we should do for him with all of our friends too.
This is so encouraging and thoughtful of you to care so much about others in this way. I need help in this area myself. My husband is a great provider and I thank God for this. I have never had to work outside the home however I was willing and did work. Mike wanted me home with the children and I am so thankful to God for this. I did raise my own children. Now that is a blessing in itself.
My father-in-law gave me something to think about once. I used to say how I wished my husband would not snore. He said that his mother used to say the same about her husband. After he passed away, she mentioned how she missed the “noise.”
When we started dating, I was having medical issues and had to be tested for leukemia. It turned out I did not have leukemia, but my husband always says that when you start out a relationship thinking about whether or not you want to go through something like that with someone, it sheds a different perspective on the relationship. We are still together. I love my husband because he was willing to go through cancer treatment with me, as a 15th date or something like that.
BTW Kimberly, you make a gorgeous bride. Thanks for the post.
Karina
Thanks Karina! Sounds like you have a great husband and very wise father-in-law! The whole idea behind this post was to think about those things that we take for granted every day, or that drive us crazy about our mates and remind ourselves that we would miss those things if they were gone. Too many times we get distracted by the “little” or “insignificant” things and miss the blessings.
Hi!
I’m stopping in from the Friday Chaos blog hop! I am one of the co-hosts this week and I’m so glad you linked up! I loved this post idea!
I hope you have an awesome weekend!
-Alexis
http://www.livingthewifestyle.com
Wow. I am blown away at the beauty of this. It brought me a genuine smile and a tender feeling in my soul
I’m not married (still 19yrs old), but I find your marriage and relationship with your husband so sweet, something I know the Lord is preparing me for. It’s my first time visiting your blog, thanks so much for posting the positive message!
http://www.diana-ablogaboutlife.blogspot.com
Oh, I just love to see a wife building up her husband and encouraging other women to do the same. Bravo! This is a great start to your 30 days. What a fantastic idea. I have a mentor who taught me to replace any negative thoughts about my husband with a positive one. So he forgot to pick up his socks? Maybe, but he is loyal. He is faithful. He’s a great dad, and so on. Thanks for following my blog so I could find yours!
Hi Becky! What great advice ~ thanks so much for sharing it!
So amazing, girl. I love your heart. You are truly beautiful!
Now following ya and looking forward to reading more!
Just stumbled upon your blog via a Naptime Review blog link up and so glad I did
XO
Erin
sweetnessitself.blogspot.com
Thank you so much Erin! Visited your blog at sweetnessitself.blogspot.com ~ love it!! Praying for you as you attend the Influence Conference. Hope you have a great time!
Wow! I love my husband so much, where do I even start? It’s so true though that it’s so easy to belittle or complain about our spouses. I’m going to join you in this. I’m going to post about it on my own blog and link back to you when I do. What better day to start than today (his birthday)?
Excited to share that I have taken this challenge! And I am loving it! So is my husband.
Tonight, just after two days into the challenge, he says with a grin on his face, “I can’t wait to see what you write tomorrow!” I have mainly been doing just one line sentences.
Day 1 ~ I love the way He loves me back.
Day 2 ~ I love the fact that Jesus is his Lord and Savior and that we can worship together.
Day 3 ~ I love that when I am wrapped in his arms, I feel safe!
Day 4 ~ I love that we kiss good night and good morning no matter what.
Day 5 ~ I love how he treats my children as his own!
Day 6 ~ I appreciate the dedication He has to his job and how He provides for our family.
Day 7 ~ I love that He calls me beautiful!
Day 8 ~ I love how he makes fishing interesting!
Day 9 ~ I love his laughter.
Day 10 ~ I love the fact that He prays for Me!
Day 11 ~ I love his advice and support when I have a decision to make.
Day 12 ~ I love how he supports and encourages me in my photography!
Rachel
Day 3 ~ I love that when I am wrapped in his arms, I feel safe!
Love this one Rachel!!
This is a really good challenge to undertake–it is important to focus more on the good than the bad, though we don’t always do that like we should! Complaining gets you nowhere, though.
You are so right Rachel! Thanks for sharing!
What a great idea!!! I always love to see women post about what they LOVE about their mates!
That’s for visiting and liking my FB page!!
Me too Rosilind! Thanks for stopping by!
I love this challenge (and your blog!)…sometimes, OTHERS, no matter how well-meaning, also point out things that they feel are failures in our spouses. It’s tough to focus on the positive when so many around us constantly remind us of the negative. This will be a good exercise in focusing ourselves positively!
Unfortunately, you are so right Tracey, and like you said I hope this challenge will change all of our perspectives and help us focus on the positives. Thanks so much for visiting and for taking the time to comment!
Im sharing this on fb! This is a wonderful idea!
Thanks Rachel!
What a beautiful wedding photo!
Thanks Brandy!