30 Day Husband Encouragement Challenge

Over the last few days I have been participating in a 30 Day Husband Encouragement Challenge. I am going to start posting my accomplishments, struggles, experiences, etc. through this challenge daily here on my blog. Today we are on Day 7 (I'm just three days in....started a few days late). The challenge for today had to do with finances: Money is the root of much marital discord. Ask yourself, "Am I being negative toward my husband in the area of finances?" Determine not to speak evil of your husband in this area. Discover ways to encourage and help him instead.

Stewart and I are very different in how we handle money. Stewart doesn't like to spend money. He enjoys saving and when we get to a point where we need to purchase something, he likes to be very informed before doing so. This sometimes can lead to good purchases slipping away and procrastination. I enjoy spending money. I enjoy shopping, I enjoy decorating, I enjoy having nice things. I often impulse buy without having all the facts. This can lead to overspending and unnessecary purchases. I know that the same things that drive me crazy about Stewart's process to buy things, keep me from wasting all of our money and buying unnecessary things. I need to make sure that I encourage him and respect his final decision with our finances.

Day 6 was about encouraging your husband's creativity. I did so by asking him if he would like to design and build a toy box for our daughter, Emily. I know that he has wanted to increase his skill (i.e. learn) carpentry since that is something that both his grandfather and father could do very well. In the past I may have projected my own desires onto projects and not encouraged him when the finished product didn't come out as I expected. I was convicted of this and hope to leave my "visions" for his projects at the door next time.

Day 5 was about: Do you edify your husband before others, adding to his value in their eyes? This is especially important to other family members.

I realized that while I try not to say anything negative about Stewart to my friends and family, his family still might not know how important he is to me. His mom lives in MI and we rarely have time for a heart to heart chat. So, I decided to write her a letter letting her know how much I appreciate her son and what a great man I think he is.

Well, those were the last three eventful days. I am really enjoying this challenge and finding out things about myself and my marriage that I wouldn't have realized otherwise. If you would like to join this challenge it's not too late. Go to In Light of the Truth and hop on board.