Valentine "to-do" list for wives

Happy Valentines Day! I got this in an email and thought it was wonderful! I felt like I needed to share it with the blogging world....


If your husband gave you a Valentine's Gift List Letter, you can be sure it would look something like this with these 10 Things would be on it.
Dear Darling,
It'd be the best Valentines Gift ever, if you would take to heart the 10 things on this list.
1. Stop trying to change me! Accept me right where I'm at. I'm not perfect. God's not done with me yet. As long as I have breath - there is hope. Listen to me, please stop and listen to me. I might not be speaking with words.
2. Respect me. God put it in my heart to grow and change when I feel respected by you. (Ephesians 5:33b). Respect (reverence) means to: adore, defer to, esteem, prefer, value, worship, give high regard for, appreciate, honor, be in awe of, venerate. (If you don't, some other woman will and she'll win his heart.) Please, in public, if I'm telling the "story" wrong, don't correct me. Let it go.
3. Understand that respect to me is like love to you. Understand that respect is: adoring me (even if I'm not perfect), supporting me (even if you're not sure what to support), follow me (even if you're not sure where I'm going - because most of the time, I'm not sure either).
4. Pray for me. I really need prayer. Pray that I become that Mighty Man. I know I can with you getting behind me and supporting me in prayer. I am fully equipped with everything I need, but it's just that sometimes, I'm not sure where all the equipment is. Please pray for me.
5. Please see me as God sees me - believe in me - treat me like a King and I know I'll become one. (Proverbs 12:4) See me as a Mighty Man of Valor . . . one who can DO it, one who can HEAR God, one who can lead well, protect well, conquer well. I do long for your approval. I need to be needed by you. Let me know that you need me.
6. Please stop telling me what to do or how to do it. Be my lover, not my mother. Please stop complaining. I already "feel like a failure" without you adding to it. I already struggle comparing myself to other men. My yardstick is already small. Please stop criticizing me. Criticalness is a heart issue rooted in discontentment – breeds criticalness. Every time you do that, it shuts me down, makes me feel shamed and then I struggle with anger. Sure, I know that's MY issue, but I resent being told what to do and how to do it. I want a wife, not a mother. I don't want to end up bitter towards you. Your criticism is the fast way to blow out our love’s flame.
7. Let me OWN the responsibility for our family. God will hold me accountable for it. Stop trying to correct my mistakes, pick up my pieces and fix what's not right. I'll never learn to be responsible IF I don't feel the weight of being responsible.
8. Feed me. When I know you've prepared good food - I know you are honoring me. I love to come home, knowing that you've thought about me during the day. I know this because you take care of me.
9. Please build me up. Encourage me. Greet me with a smile. You just don't know what your smile does for my masculine soul. Please, wipe the sweat off my brow - even if you don't see it. 10. Please take your discontentment and disappointment to God first. Make an appointment with Him first and then if He tells you to talk to me, please do it without anger or emotion. Please make it about you by saying, "It would me a lot to me if you....." I may not hear it initially, but give me time and I will.


I love my Valentine and thank God for him everyday! We had a wonderful trip to Gatlinburg but our internet is not working (I'm posting from work...shhh!) so I will update with those pictures ASAP!