Thank God It's...Monday?

Yes, I am so excited it is Monday. I couldn't wait to write today's blog entry. I was so blessed by everyone's comments and e-mails last week. It is so awesome to know that one person's life can touch someone else's, even if it is only in a small way. The truth is that it's the small things that really make a difference in the big scheme of things. So, thank you to everyone for reading!

The weather was beautiful this weekend. When it is nice outside, my family doesn't spend any time indoors. We just can't get enough of the beautiful sunshine. Scott always has an ongoing list of projects to complete, so he can keep himself pretty busy in the garage. Clay got a plastic tool set for Christmas, so he likes to help Daddy "fix" things.

It is so amazing how early in life a little boy shows preference to the typical boy toys. No one had to point him to the toys that are meant for boys or tell him, "no playing with baby dolls." From the time he was able to choose what he played with, he chose them on his own. Now, I wouldn't have a problem with him playing with his sisters' toys. In fact, he did carry a doll around for about 5 minutes one day. I'm just glad to know that my husband finally has a little buddy to hang out with and do all the things that boys do.

Speaking of hanging out with a buddy, I would like to share something I learned about my husband recently. Scott and I are taking a marriage class called "Dynamic Marriages." So far, it has been life-changing. We have discovered so much about each other that we never knew before. It's like we are dating again.

Each week, we have daily homework assignments. A few of the assignments must be completed together as a couple. The topics are different every week.

Last week's topics were 1. Communication and 2. Recreational Companionship. Up until doing this assignment, I thought that Scott and I had no common interests in the area of recreational activities. I mean, we both like to go out to dinner and to see a movie, but I never thought there were other things beyond that. For example, I love rollerblading and Scott would probably die trying to rollerblade. He likes to go hunting and I have no desire to sit in a deer blind for hours, waiting to shoot something. I like acting in plays and he would rather have an elective surgery than be in a play. He loves watching every single type of football game that airs on television from Friday to Monday nights. I can tolerate about 10 minutes of football and then I'm ready to go hang out with the ladies in the kitchen. As you can see, our tastes are quite different. That's why I was pleasantly surprised by our homework results.

The assignment was for each spouse to go through a very long list of recreational activities and rate each one from -3 to +3 based on how much you disliked or liked the activity. After that, we were to go through the list together and total each activity's score. Anything that scored a 6 was an activity that we would both enjoy. The list had everything for yachting to taxidermy. Yes, taxidermy was listed as recreational. Weird!

After getting together to complete the assignment, we discovered that we had a lot of common interests. We would both like to play tennis. We have tennis rackets that we have never used, so now it's time to use them. We both enjoy going on walks and I can't even understand why we weren't already doing that. Scott likes to play golf and I'm interested in learning to play golf, so I'm really excited to have him teach me. The list goes on...

Besides coming up with a list of activities we can do together, I discovered how important it is to Scott to do these things with me. Boys may grow up to be men, but they still just want someone to "play" with them. Having his wife as his #1 buddy is very exciting for him. Sure, he is thrilled to have a son who will work alongside him in the garage doing "boy stuff." But spending time with his wife is in a category of it's own. After all, I am his best friend.

So this week, my goal is spend more time doing recreational things with my husband (remember the weekly goal thing). No, I'm not going to drag him to the mall with me or expect him to sing karaoke somewhere. Instead, I'm going to focus on the things that we would both enjoy. After all, it's not about what we are doing that matters. It's about who we are doing it with (as long as it's legal). When I married Scott, he was the person I vowed to spend the rest of my life with. Now, with our new list of fun stuff to do, the rest of our lives will be very exciting.

This week's challenge: Go on a date with your spouse. If you're not married, go find a spouse (just kidding!). Spend time with those you love. After all, they are the people that God gave to you.