12 Days of Christmas

A few weeks before Christmas I was challenged by a particular post on the Passionate Homemaking blog. The writer encouraged wives to not let the busyness of the holiday season crowd out our husbands and, instead, to add a little holiday spice into our marriages. The article encouraged women to use the Twelve Days of Christmas to intentionally bless their husbands. Immediately interested in doing this, I posted the idea on my Facebook. I was surprised and encouraged by the number of women who wanted to join me in giving thoughtful gifts to their husbands. When I initially posted the link to the article on my Facebook a few women commented. When I posted it a second time after having committed myself to doing it, several more people commented. The idea spread so quickly that my friend Jenny suggested we start a Facebook page so that we could all encourage one another and share ideas. Over 100 women requested to join this group! Some were newlyweds and some had been married over 35 years. Some came from really strong marriages and some came from marriages that were really struggling. Knowing that God loves marriage and is honored when we are intentional with it I was beyond thrilled by the number of women who were willing to carve out time from the crazy Christmas schedule to focus on their husbands! I believe God was honored by those women who chose to honor their husbands.

During the twelve days I received several notes from women who shared with me how God had used this idea to draw them closer to their husbands. I heard women talk about how they were falling in love with their husbands all over again after months or years of hardships. I read those messages with tears and praised God for those women who had a renewed commitment to their spouse.

The idea was simple. Each day for twelve days I gave a gift to Ben that coincided with the day. For example, on Day 4 I gave him the "4th" DVD in a comedy series. On Day 10 I gave him a "10" issue subscription to a magazine. On Day 12 I gave him "12" letters I had written to him. Some women spent a lot of money and gave really nice gifts each day. Others chose not to spend any money and got really creative by giving gifts of service. The point is, any wife can be an encouragement to her man. It doesn't take a lot of money or creativity. I am not a creative person but after a little research and a lot of thinking I was able to come up with a list of 12 gifts.

I want this to become an annual tradition. I have one marriage. I want it to be the best it can be. I want to be intentional!