It works!

My mom lent me a book called "How to encourage your husband" which has a lot of practical advice on things you can do to, well, encourage your husband! I spent a good bit of time yesterday reading it - because that's what I do...you give me a book and I pretty much have to read it straight through in every bit of spare time I possess! But this time I think I should have controlled myself and only read one chapter at a time, because it made me depressed and overwhelmed thinking about all the things I was doing wrong and all the things I had to work on! ;-) However, I am very glad I read it, and I decided to try putting a few of the things in practice. I feel like Robert and I have kind of struggled to be close lately, mainly because he has been working so much that he is exhausted by the time he gets home and often falls straight asleep after dinner. And of course, with 4 little kids, its hard to manage a date night! And to my shame, I have often given him lots of grief about how late he works and how much he's gone. Who wouldn't want to come home to a nagging and grumpy wife, after all? Oy.

So yesterday I typed up a list of 10 things I love about him and sent it to him, just trying to encourage him. I guess the women who wrote this book know what they were talking about, because he came home (no, not any earlier) in a really good mood, was extremely sweet to all of us, had family dinner, and told me I looked like I'd lost weight! ;-) Huzzah! This stuff works! Whether it was true or not, it sure made ME feel better. Haha.

So after dinner, we were in need of groceries and Robert offered to keep the kids and let me go to the store with just the baby. With only one car and 4 little kids, I don't get out of the house very often, so I jumped at the chance. I spent almost 2 hours shopping because, since I'm not able to go that often, I try to buy everything I might ever possibly need each time I go! And since I was feeling so good about the evening, and still had the influence of the book on my mind, I put back a cute sweater that came with a belt that I had been wanting and was going to buy, and instead I bought Robert a t-shirt that said "No Mistletoe Required" for Christmas! ;-) I thought he'd like it. Don't worry, he doesn't actually read my blog, so he'll still be surprised. (But he's only allowed to wear it when I'm around! Don't want any of those other women to get any ideas!) I was feeling pretty good about things when I got home around 10:00 to find Robert fast asleep, the kids still up, and with all the groceries to unload and put away by myself. Oops. Well, they say circumstances are the true test of character. I did NOT wake up Robert, yell at him, and make him put the kids to bed. I may have thought some things that were not entirely loving or respectful while I put the kids to bed and put all the groceries away, but I really did try to work on my attitude, and I wasn't mad by the time I went to bed. After all, the poor guy was tired.

This morning Robert got all ready for work and, instead of leaving, he came back to bed to hug me and tell me that he felt like the richest man in the world! Wow. I am reading this book EVERY DAY! We had coffee and breakfast together and talked for a while before he had to leave for work. I am feeling so blessed by the past 24 hours. I know this doesn't mean everything's going to be perfect from the moment on, but its so neat to see the way encouragement reinforces itself to both people - the more love you show to someone, the more you receive in return! I also know that it's up to me to do the right thing even if I don't get any response back. But I am definitely grateful that I have such a sweet and godly husband who does encourage me. God knows what He's talking about!