For a festive touch, put a string of twinkle lights or a grouping of candles somewhere in your bedroom. I've had a few ladies share with me that they put small trees in their bedroom to decorate for the holidays. Personal gifts, stockings, or ornaments can be set out too.
A Christmas candle is a lovely thing; It makes no noise at all, But softly gives itself away. Eva Logue
Be generous! Lori <><
I can't think of anything more important than having a healthy relationship with God. To know God, you have to spend time with Him. Do you feel awkward about prayer? Don't feel like you know what you are doing? Self-educate. Get a couple of books about prayer and talk to those folk who seem to have a handle on that part of their relationship with God. Then just try what they suggest. Get a small journal and start writing down what you pray about and watch God at work. Keep your husband in the heart of your prayers.
Prayer is where the action is. John Wesley
Be generous! Lori <><
Two things ...
1) I was watching a marriage video today and one (of many) things they recommended was that couples laugh together.
2) My husband and I shared a meal with our (adult) son, dear friends and their (adult) son. We shared stories and laughed a lot. Actually I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. My sides hurt and I had an absolutely lovely time.
I encourage y'all to look for people with a lovely sense of humor. Invite them over for dinner. Laugh. A lot.
I've always thought that a big laugh is a really loud noise from the soul saying, "Ain't that the truth." Quincy Jones
Be generous! Lori <><
The "Twelve Days of Christmas" are the twelve days between Christmas Day and Epiphany. In the past, these days were celebrated by gift giving. Many people enjoy reviving this tradition by giving gifts for twelve days either following Christmas Day (traditionally December 25th through January 5th) or leading up to Christmas Day (non-traditional December 14th through 25th). A creative twist is giving one gift on the first day, two on the second, three on the third, and so forth. Here are a few ideas for creating your own "Twelve Days of Christmas" fun.
Day 1 - something unique and individual - a Christmas ornament, a collectible, a nice wallet, or a framed photo.
Day 2 - anything that comes in pairs - mittens, socks, bookends, cuff links, or tickets to an event.
Day 3-6 - small gift sets, different kinds of mustards, chocolates in a sampler box, a few fishing lures, gardening tools, film for his camer, sticky not pads (there are some fun shapes and colors), or balloons.
Days 5-12 - This gets more challenging as the number goes up. Look for things that are packaged in multiples and consider the small items that your husband uses frequently. Wander through his favorite stores and look for lots of little things.
Some ideas: batteries, burnable DC's, his favorite candies, markers, postage stamps (especially if he is a collector), coupons good for servies, book plates, small tool kit with (however many) tools, cookies, or office supplies.
I love the Christmas-tide, and yet,
I notice this, each year I live;
I always like the gifts I get,
But how I love the gifts I give! Carolyn Wells
Be generous! Lori <><
(I know Thanksgiving Day is an American holiday, but regardless of where you live, every day is a good day to give thanks!)
Give your husband three reasons why you are thankful that he's your special guy. If he is a believer, together thank Him for all the blessings in your lives.
Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name. 1 Chronicles 29:13 NIV
Happy Thanksgiving, ladies. Bless you. Lori <><
Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®.
Copyright©1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society.
Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.
Kiss in the dark. Whether it's a darkened theatre or an evening moment on the back porch, snuggle up in the dark for an intimate kiss.
Soul meets soul on lovers' lips ... Percy Bysshe Shelley
Be generous! Lori <><
Usually on Tuesdays I send out an idea about encouraging your husbands. Well, today it's about encouraging you.
I'm trying to set The Generous Wife website up as a resource where you can go to get ideas and generally encourage each other. When you go to the site, there are all kinds of links in the right hand column. I'd like to share a bit about them.
WHO IS THAT GAL? - this is just a fun page, a collection of pictures of generous wives (if you've sent your picture and it's not up yet, sorry for the delay, my husband and I had a major time crunch for the day job and haven't gotten to some of the fun stuff yet, will do soon).
LOGIN HERE
REGISTER
RECOVER PASSWORD - these are controls for the website itself. If you want to post a comment or rate a post, you will need to register here.
CONTROL PANEL - this will show up if you are registered and logged in (it has stuff like your profile).
COMPANION BLOG: THE GENEROUS HUSBAND - just a link to my husband's list. Gotta keep those guys generous too!
SUBSCRIBE - this section helps you subscribe to the list by email or RSS feed (which you've already done, so just ignore this).
CONNECT - I finally broke down and joined Facebook. The Facebook link goes to the page for The Generous Wife. Please share it with your friends and share ideas with me on how I can make the page something useful for you and your friends. I'm very new to Facebook (and sadly it shows). 
I do know you can have discussions on the page, which is nice.
CAN YOU HELP? - right now there is a blurb about prayer and financial needs. In the future, there will also be a wish list of goods that we might need. We just moved to a small retreat center and my husband and I will be able to minster to couples here. We're working on fixing up a cabin right now and soon we will need things like blankets and dishes.
ARTICLES - A collection of articles that I hope you will find encouraging. I'll notify the list when new ones are added.
PRAYER REQUESTS - Please use this page to request prayer and then take a moment to pray for the other requests as well.
SHARE THE WEALTH -These are pages for y'all. Share your great ideas about gift ideas, vacation spots, etc. Let's share the wealth.
BIO & CONTACT ME - just a bit about me and how to reach me.
ARCHIVES
RECENT COMMENTS
SEARCH
CATEGORIES
TAGS
TRANSLATOR ... just some areas to help with functionality
Also there is a small technical problem on the site with spacing that my husband is working on (things look a little smoonched with little in the way of paragraph breaks). It will get better sometime over this week.
Be generous! Lori <><
This time of year offers plenty of opportunities for volunteering. So, volunteer together. Dish up a Thanksgiving meal in a street outreach, gather and wrap gifts for the Blue (police) or Brown (sheriffs) Santa, or make some deliveries or calls for your favorite charity organization. Usher in a little holiday cheer together.
... be ready for every good deed. Titus 3:1b NAS
Be generous! Lori <><
Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible®,
Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995
by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)