Us Against the World: Our Secrets to Love, Marriage, & FamilySýnishorn

CELEBRATE EACH OTHER

Scripture: “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: rejoice!” -Philippians 4:4 NIV

Devotional: When Tam won her first Grammy, I was filled with indescribable joy. I can’t describe how proud I was of my wife. Seeing her on that stage made me reflect on her journey––the long tours on buses that sometimes broke down, the movie sets, late-night dinners, swollen knees, swollen ankles, lots of tears, lots of practice, lots of happy moments, and lots of funny moments. All of them brought her to this life-changing moment, and the only thing left to do was celebrate!

Celebrations are great reminders in marriage. Celebrations remind us that the rain won’t last forever, and the sun is going to come out tomorrow (thanks, Annie). The gift of celebration forces us to stop from life’s routine to smile at one another, commemorate a milestone, or just hang out and laugh. Most of the time, we give what we would want to receive, but the key to celebrating your spouse is to give what they want and need. 

Here are fifteen ways we’ve learned to celebrate each other. Try picking one or two to put into practice this week.

1.  Serve your spouse by preparing their favorite meal. 

2.  Become their personal assistant for a day. 

3.  Ask them to hire you as their personal massage therapist. 

4.  Compliment your spouse often. 

5.  Figure out one way to make them feel special every week. 

6.  Write a letter and tell your spouse what you love about them. Then allow your spouse to tell you what they love about you. 

7.  Make their special day a big deal (birthday, Valentine’s Day, anniversary). Do it big! 

8.  Write a personalized letter thanking them for things they do on a regular basis that you may have never acknowledged. 

9.  Shower them with acts of affection. Give them a real kiss, a strong hug, or a pat on the bottom (a gentle caress). 

10.  Create a fun scavenger hunt that leads them to you. 

11.  Appreciate them in public. 

12.  Cherish them in private.

13.  Honor them in front of your children. 

14.  Send flowers to their job, or hide their favorite candy somewhere on their desk.

15.  Send them a “sext” message that lets them know you’re thinking of them. Send it during a time when they will most likely blush and least expect it.

WILL YOU PRAY WITH US? 

Gracious God, thank you for the gift of marriage. Thank you for the priceless gift that my spouse is to me and to others. Help me to celebrate my spouse more this year than I have in past years. Help us not to focus so much on what is going wrong that we forget to celebrate what is going right. May our love deepen more and more as the years go by. We trust that you will keep us focused on you and focused on each other. In Jesus’ name, amen. 

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 

Fill out the following questions with your spouse. Knowing the answers to each question will help you to celebrate your spouse with more specificity and intentionality. After you’ve written down your answers, see if your spouse can guess the answers you wrote without looking at your responses. 

1.  What is your favorite color? 

2.  What is your favorite movie? 

3.  What is your favorite season of the year? 

4.  What did your spouse get you for Christmas last year? 

5.  What do you love to do that doesn’t cost any money? 

6.  Where can you go outdoors to be renewed? 

7.  What is something you’ve never done but you want to do? 

8.  Do you have a bucket list? What’s on it? 

9.  What did you like to do when you first started dating that you no longer do as a married couple? 

10.  Where is an exotic place you’d like to visit within the next three years?