Theme: What every parent needs
Weekend Music links on iTunes: Run - Hillsong, All Because of Jesus - Fee, Lead Me To The Cross - Hillsong, Arms Open Wide - Hillsong
Read: Ephesians 5:31-33, Ecclesiastes 9:9
Think: Are there unmet expectations in your marriage? What are they? Where did these expectations come from? As you look into your marriage, you'll obviously see that you and your spouse come from different families with different ways of doing things but you must remember- not everybody's families did what yours did!
In the early months of my marriage, I kept wondering why my wife never called me throughout the day. I thought that was what married couples do- they want to talk to each other all the time! I finally asked her and she replied, "I don't enjoy talking on the phone." Part of me was upset because I felt unloved but the other part of me felt confused. I thought everybody enjoyed talking on the phone!
Here's the point, I expected her to want to talk on the phone throughout the day, even during the busy hours. I learned this from watching my parents, my married friends and from watching romantic comedies! Here's the tough lesson I learned. She didnt have these expectations, I was the only one so I felt disappointed.
I soon realized that as I continued to project my expectations on her, I would keep feeling disappointed and to further the damage, I would frustrate my wife. The best thing to do is develop your own family habits and traditions, not just from what your family did. Learn how to love your spouse the way she needs to be loved, not by your own expectations which you've derived from your family and past experience.
Do: A great read the 5 Love Languages by Gary Chapman. Read this book with your spouse
Pray: God, help me not to project my own expectations on my spouse, instead, help me to love her the way she feels loved!
The eDevotional is written each week by a team of volunteers from Timberlake Church.