Ferocious Flirting: Making Marriage Wonderful

I saw this quote the other day: Our greatest joy and satisfaction comes from the act of giving.  ----  Leo Buscaglia If you would be happy in your relationship with your sweetie, practice the act of giving.  The more selfless you are, the more you will get out of the marriage.  The more selfish you are, the less the meaningful the relationship will be.

James E Faust stated: "Marriage relationships can be enriched by better communication. One important way is to pray together. This will resolve many of the differences, if there are any, between the couple before sleep comes. I do not mean to overemphasize differences, but they are real, and make things interesting. Our differences are the little pinches of salt which can make the marriage seem sweeter. We communicate in a thousand ways, such as a smile, a brush of the hair, a gentle touch, and remembering each day to say 'I love you' and the husband to say 'You're beautiful.' Some other important words to say, when appropriate, are 'I'm sorry.' Listening is excellent communication." So many great ideas in a single paragraph.  Prayer Praying with each other and for each other is a powerful influence for good in a marriage and in a family.  Imagine how your sweetie feels in hearing you thank God daily for your sweetheart and you

I must admit it. The truth is I rarely hold the car door open for my sweetie anymore. When we were dating and first married, she would even wait for me to come around and open it for her. It was all so very romantic. Then kids came. With car seats, diaper bags and everything else, running around and opening the door when she would just have to get out and wrangle a kid or two seemed a bit pointless. The final end came with our latest vehicle. The lock on the passenger side door doesn't work from the outside. I have to open the driver side door and unlock the other doors. By the time I get back around, she's already inside, belt buckled and wondering what the hold up is. Only for special date nights do we allow the extra time for me to open the door for her. How much time is it? Oh, about 5 seconds. Yet we are always in a hurry to get somewhere and those few moments seem like an eternity. More's the pity because my children have not seen me make the effort to sho

In Matt 6:21 we read: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. My sweetie is one of my greatest treasures because that is where my heart is.

Before we talked about making S'Mores and how you don't need to be camping to enjoy these tasty treats. Of course, s'mores and camping go hand in hand. Everything seems to taste better cooked in the great outdoors, even marshmallows. Camping is a great way to bring some fire into a relationship. As much as I love the campfire and smelling like smoke, I'm talking about the other kind of fire, the romantic one. Going camping is a nice trip outside the comfort zone. Everything about life is changed. Even the most common and everyday tasks become a an adventure. This includes everything from sleeping, to cooking and even the outhouse. For a short while, nothing is boring because everything is different. Also, you end up with a lot of free time on your hands. Everything seems to take longer so you have more time to spend together doing tasks like cooking. Besides, there is no TV to interrupt your conversations. Even if you can't go camping, try sleeping outsi

Every so often we hear the phrase that loose lips sink ships . The phrase was used as the name of a poster campaign during World War II to emphasize national security. The message was that idle talk could endanger the soldiers fighting in the war. Of course, both sides were trying to gather information in order the defeat the other. Since you never really know who might hear a conversation, it was safer not to talk about anything to do with the military. Of course, the basic problem was one of trust. Maybe you trust your friend, but not the person overhearing the conversation. Besides, some people just don't know how to keep secrets either. They mean no harm but don't stop to look at the consequences of their idle talk. In a marriage, trust is so important. We need to feel that we can share deeply personal feelings, ideas and problems with our sweetheart. Likewise, your sweetie should trust you to listen as well. It is so important to hold these confidences between ju

The newspaper insert American Profile is having their fifth annual Acts of Kindness edition to celebrate the unsung heroes in the community. If someone you know has performed an unexpected act of kindness, compassion, generosity or humanity for no apparent reason in the past year, they want to hear about it. Send a brief description of the person and their good deed along with your full name, address and telephone number to Acts of Kindness c/o American Profile 341 Cool Springs Blvd. Suite 400 Franklin TN 37067 Deadline is August 1, 2005. What a great way to honor your sweetie! You can either submit your sweetheart or maybe a member of your sweetie's family, like a father or mother. We often do not get the opportunity to honor our sweetie's parents, this would be a great opportunity to do so.

Fireworks are great fun and can make for a cheap or even free date. Most cities have fireworks for free. Take some drinks and munchies, go early and find your spot, lay out a blanket or lawn chairs and wait for the show to start. Another fun idea is to make a double header of it. Go to a baseball game where they are having fireworks afterwards. It is a lot of fun to cheer on the home team and then share the fireworks with 20,000 of your closet friends. Of course the kids will like the fireworks as well.

Do your sweetie really like your cologne or perfume ? Did you know that the sense of smell is strongly associated with memories? Sometimes I am walking down the street and out of the blue a certain smell will trigger some long forgotten memories and their associated emotions. It is a very powerful trigger. If you are traveling without your sweetheart, take along your cologne or perfume. Send a love letter and put a few drops on the papers. Be sure to include SWAK on the outside of the envelope. The familiar fragrance will be a nice surprise. If your sweetie is traveling without you, sneak a small hankie or stuffed animal into your sweetheart's luggage. Put a few drops of perfume or cologne on it. Make sure it is sealed in a baggie or something so their entire luggage doesn't smell. It will make a nice surprise when they are missing you.

My sweetie and I don't see much of each other in the mornings. On the weekdays she gets up and goes for a walk. By the time she gets back, I have already left for work. To top it off, neither of us are morning people so even if we do see each other first thing in the morning, its not all that romantic. Just a grunt good morning. Although she would like to make my breaks fast, it just isn't possible and I am perfectly capable of feeding myself. Sundays are even worse. My responsibilities at church require me to be there by 6:30 am, while my wife doesn't even need to get up until I have been gone for a couple of hours. I do not begrudge her this extra sleep as she gets to wrangle the kids and get them ready for church. She deserves some extra rest. Again, I end up getting my own breakfast. On Father's Day my wife made me a very special breakfast. The food itself was standard breakfast fare. What made it special is that she got up at 5:45 am to get it ready for m