Respect Challenge: Week 1

25 Weeks to Being a Respectful Wife

I found a list of 25 ways to communicate respect to your husband over at Loving Life At Home.  This has inspired me to take 25 weeks and make each of these things a habit.  I want to be the wife my husband dreamed of, I want to be a wife he is proud of, one he talks about, one he doesn't have a problem loving like Jesus does.  I think blogging weekly will help keep me accountable as well as give you inspiration!  I encourage you to do this with me!  It never hurts to try to be better....at anything.  I'll share what I do each day and what Hubbies response was (if there was one).  And, no he doesn't know about this (I can even hide it from him when I post it on Facebook).  The only way he will find out is if one of you tells him!  ;)  I'll tell him when I'm finished but for now I want this to be our little secret...SO much fun!  

So week one it is:

Choose Joy. 

Jennifer notes, "Please don't use moodiness as an attempt to manipulate your man, but in all things rejoice, because that's the right thing to do."

1 Thessalonians 5:16 - Rejoice evermore.

Philippians 4:4 - Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!


FINAL REPORT:
The beginning of the week went pretty well. Hubby said once: "why are you being so lovey? I'm so confused." So he did notice I was being a bit different. And one night I noticed he was really trying to be happier as well - my joy was infectious! The best part: when I was joyful there was much less bickering.  One night Hubby asked me if I was going to finish hanging his clothes.  I took a second to think before I reacted and I did it joyfully with a smile on my face (and not a snarky one either)... It is amazing what a change in attitude can do. When I chose to be joyful it was refreshing - I felt complete...like I was doing what I was supposed to do and I was truly happy about it!  When I chose to be joyful about the things I don't necessarily love doing, it changed my whole outlook.  This is probably the best thing I learned through this challenge.

Another positive was that when I was being moody and pessimistic, I noticed almost instantly. Most of the time I would apologize for my moodiness as soon as I realized. There was one night I'm sure Hubby thought I was like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde....

Sadly, choosing joy was much more difficult than I thought it would be some days. All in all, though, it was pretty much like any other week. But I was much more conscience of my attitude and moodiness. That in itself is a big step! :)

If you take some time to "choose joy" let me know how it goes!