Festive Season
This is a season to be festive!! Yes, festive!! Are you stressed, overwhelmed, or ready for it all to be over? I have met people who tell me this. They literally can’t enjoy this season. If this is you, I am telling you friend, put it in the Lords hands and have some fun! With everything going on in 2020 and the stress it has put on your family, remember what you focus on expands. I have had to remember this all year! We have a choice, we can either react to life, circumstances, the holidays, 2020, or we can respond thoughtfully!! We can give, love, reach, be understanding, compassionate, and have fun! It makes all of the difference.
Distracted
Have you been distracted in your marriage, your home, or in life in general? It’s easy to do. We see the news, the feeds, hearing everyone talk, and just going to the store, we can be distracted by it all. Chaos is in the world, but it always has been since the beginning when the fall happened. The serpent came into the perfect world of Adam and Eve and created chaos by getting them to focus on the wrong thing. They were distracted. They lost sight of the Provider, their Refuge, the one who created them. God had given them so much and they were distracted by wanting more.
More
What do we constantly see and hear everywhere we look? “You need more!” It’s a consumers world and especially at Christmas. When you think of a fun filled marriage do you think “we need more to make it fun?” Probably not. When I think of having fun with my spouse, it’s usually something we do together, play a game, get together with another couple that are our friends, taking a walk, looking at Christmas lights, watching a Christmas movie together, dreaming together. More doesn’t equal fun! Make a list of some things you can do that are fun!!
Today
Today is all you have, you can’t do anything about yesterday and tomorrow isn’t promised. What are you doing today? If this was the last time you got to see your spouse, if you only had today, what would you do differently? I know I would spend as much time as possible with my husband, loving him, listening to him, laughing, kissing, embracing him. Why? Because I would want to make memories that last a lifetime.
Memories
We love to capture a moment on our phones, social media accounts, and in videos. But we do have a very powerful brain that can store a lot of wonderful memories. Writing them down is a great way to keep them as well. But when we create a moment to be remembered and are intentional about it, we are making a memory for a life well lived! Fun in your marriage biologically creates dopamine and serotonin. When things are tough, stressful, and even really hard in your marriage, fun and laughter could be the answer. Touching, embracing, enjoying yourself all help create this! Your “feel good hormone” is dopamine, and your “happy hormone” is serotonin. Oxytocin is another one!! The love hormone!!
Action
Releasing these hormones in your body come from positives!! Dopamine comes from praise, or positive talk. Just think what finding something about your spouse that is good and saying it to them does for them. It will do the same for you as they respond with gratitude! Serotonin is expelled by a physical action. So touch, taking a walk together, embracing in a hug, will act as a catapult to releasing that happy hormone!! When you have fun and show love, you will both feel the biological effects of it!! Spending time together, and being kind, releases Oxytocin and you feel all the love in your marriage!!
Song of Solomon
Have you read the book in the bible Song of Solomon? It’s a book about love, seeking, finding, and, well, an intimate look into marriage. If you aren’t having this intimacy in your marriage, then you may want to address why? You should have fun and intimacy in your marriage. Stealing a kiss creates excitement and that leads to intimacy. This comes from trust and love. Trust is something you just have to do. With all of the hurts that can happen in marriage, misunderstandings, and heartache, it is easy to let them get in the way of fun and especially intimacy. Friend, you need this in your marriage. Some of you may need counseling if some things are really hurtful, but if you are just allowing an argument to come between you, find a way to let it go and get close again. It is life breathing to your marriage. Find a place of prayer and give it to the One who understands you and every hurt, then create that fun and intimacy in your marriage again. It will make you stronger as you forgive and become close.
Scripture
Monday: Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” Fun in this festive season starts with trusting the Lord and giving all your worries to Him!
Tuesday: Genesis 3:5 says, “For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” We get so easily distracted today by all that the world has to offer. Be content in your marriage and learn to have fun in what you have.
Wednesday: Philippians 4:11 says, “Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.” More doesn’t equal contentment, so be content with what you have and learn to enjoy it! You will have such a blessed marriage if you do!
Thursday: James 4:13-14 says, “Today or tomorrow [a]we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; 14 whereas you do not know what will happentomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.” You only have today, have fun and enjoy your spouse!
Friday: Proverbs 17:22 says, “A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.” Laugh, love, and create memories!! Don’t let stress ruin your day or marriage!
Saturday: Romans 12:10 says, “Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;” Take action and love on your spouse!!
Sunday: Song of Solomon 2:10-13 says, “My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. For, lo, the winter is past, The rain is over and gone; The flowers appear on the earth; The time of the singing of birds is come, And the voice of the turtle is heard in our land; The fig tree putteth forth her green figs, And the vines with the tender grape give a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.” Find love, fun, and intimacy in your marriage, better yet create it!
Contact
Please feel free to contact us at janene@happilyevermarried.org, and share or read other blog posts at http://happilevermarried.org Thank you for investing in your marriage and have a happily ever married!!