12 things I can give him this Christmas (for free!)

He doesn't need a new tie.

He doesn't need the latest gadget.

He doesn't need a set of cute boxer shorts (though that might be a gift I get him just so he can wear them for me!).

He would love a motorcycle, but that's a bit out of our budget, and I'm not sure I'm ready to be a biker babe quite yet.

So what can I give the man who is God's answer to my gaps?  The one who knows by a subtle tone of my voice when I need a little extra attention, a single rose on my pillow, or a night off of giving baths to the kids?  What can I buy that will in any way convey the way I feel when he comes in at the end of the day, knowing that with me is the only place he wants to be?  What could I possibly get for the one who is the very meaning of "home" to me?

It's not so much what I can buy, but what I can be for him.  Not what I can get, but how I can care for him.  Not what I materially can provide, but what I can show by my actions.  What is marriage except a constant giving and changing and growing and hurting and forgiving and loving, and how blessed I am to have someone who shares all of the pains and joys of life so fully with me.


Twelve free gifts for my husband this Christmas:

1. Speak highly of him when out with others, whether he is with me or not.  So often talk between women turns to half-kidding conversations about their husbands' little quirks and flaws.
2. Anticipate his needs on a bad day at work.  Be ready with a hug and a smile and a "How was your day?".  Really listen.
3. Plan around his tastes when making the weekly menu.  Nothing speaks to a man more than feeding him well and showing that you took the time to prepare something just for him.
4. Well, almost nothing speaks to him more than food.  But sex sure does.  Have lots of it.  We married women need to take good sex back from those Cosmo-reading girls.  We are who sex was meant for!
5. Honor him by arguing with respect, especially in front of our kids.  This is one that has taken years of marriage to really improve and I still have a way to go.  But it is so important!
6. Plan a night to put the kids in bed early and get a glass of wine to enjoy in front of the fire and the lit Christmas tree.
7. Care for our home well.  My husband doesn't need it to be perfect, but he likes to come home to a place where everyone (including me) is relatively quiet and in a good mood, things are (mostly) in their places, and the atmosphere is one of joy and peace.
8. But of course, things can't always be peaceful.  I can try, however, to resist being at the mercy of those darn things called hormones.  I really don't have to vent every moody thought.  
9. Focus on the good in my husband.  Sure we all have things to gripe about with our spouse, but it's more about perspective than anything else.  I can choose to see the good above the not-so-good.
10. Say "thank you".  Often.  Thank you for loving me, for forgiving me, for supporting me (financially and emotionally), etc. etc. etc.  A heartfelt thank you is immensely valuable.
11. Tell our children how wonderful their daddy is.  Mean it, show it, live it.
12. Lift him up in prayer daily.  Let him know that I am covering him in prayer when he has a big day ahead.

She brings him good and not harm all the days of her life.  Prov. 31:12

Visit e-Mom for Marriage Monday.  Is there any better way to spend your Monday than by honoring your marriage?