Friday, July 24, 2009

Love is...





aiding in the fostering of friendships!




I'm cheating because I know hubby is going on a boys weekend away tonight with his university buddies. Knowing this reminded me of how important it is to help the ones we love develop, keep, and strengthen their friendships. And so, instead of wallowing in loneliness (not like our three munchkins will give me much time to do that anyway) I'm sending hubby with Kettle salt and pepper chips, various other snacks, Gatorade, and huge blessings for a fun, relaxing, stress-free weekend without me or his children or his various four-legged dependents, either.

So my challenge for all you out there looking for one this week, is to encourage your spouse to foster their friendships, whether it be a a free hour to shoot the breeze over whacking some golf balls side by side, or helping a friend build a deck, or going to a horror flick with a buddy, whatever, just help them carve a little more time than usual for fostering their friendships this week.


Oh, and returning to last week's challenge: it turns out that assorted boxes of chocolates are seasonal for non-specialty stores--Valentine's and Christmas only. So I had to go to Laura Secords (Canada's big chocolate stores) and purchase a box from there that contains the chart hubby loves to use in selecting his morsel of the moment. I went to Staples and had a collage of photo's photocopied to wrap the cover of the box in for a little uniqueness, since a candy dish really wouldn't be the best for hubby's choice of candy. Here's how it turned out.

17 comments:

Jody Hedlund said...

Aaaw! Eileen, you're so creative and sweet! I wouldn't want to open the box and ruin the wrapping paper!

Great idea for encouraging our husbands. It's hard to remember to leave time for that in the daily busy schedules of our lives. Thank you for that tip!

Eileen Astels Watson said...

Hi, Jody: Actually, Laura Secord Chocolates come with the plastic covering just the base of the box, the lid is removable right away. So I covered just the lid, so it'll stay that way as long as isn't really messy with it. He liked it!

Terri Tiffany said...

Very nice! And I so agree about our husbands having their time with friends too. We love it and so do they and then it is fun to hear about their time out.
MIne plays golf now with his friends and loves it!

Jessica Nelson said...

That's so sweet! My hubby is actually leaving this weekend for mini lobster season down in the Keys. He will be carefree for five days. :-) They need that time, and so do we. I like how you related your post to love, because when we love someone we want what's best for them, even if it's uncomfortable for us.
Hope you're not too lonely. *hugs*

Georgiana Daniels said...

Your hubby is one SUPER blessed man! And you are one thoughtful woman :)

Erica Vetsch said...

That is so neat! Such a clever idea.

Katie Ganshert said...

I imagine you are such a blessing to your hubby, Eileen. How cool! And thanks for the challenge. That's a good one. :) Have you read the Love Dare?

Stephanie Faris said...

Good challenge! My boyfriend works in an all-male office in sales and they spend half their time wandering through houses looking at wiring, shooting the breeze. It's amazing to me. I'm hoping he'll foster some friendships through all of that because I swear, it really is hard to find good friends and keep them. People just drift away after a while. I need some good solid female friendships myself.

Jeannie Campbell, LMFT said...

you know...i'm currently doing this right now. i'm sitting at my inlaws...alone with just me and the baby...while my hubby goes on a 5-hour or so trip with his dad. i would have liked to go...it's beautiful scenery to see if nothing else...but stayed instead!

Jeanette Levellie said...

Eileen: You are so thoughtful; i love this wrapping idea!

My husband goes to a men's Bible study every Saturday morning, that so nourishes his spirit man. That's when I get some praying and writing done, so it's a win/win.

Thanks for encouraging us along the marriage lines. I think it's cute that both you and Jody are blogging about marriage from different angles!

Have a blessed weekend, Jen
Audience of ONE

Jill Kemerer said...

What a wonderful reminder as the week ends. Your husband is a lucky guy!

Eileen Astels Watson said...

Terri, Golf is a huge past-time for men. My hubby likes it too but has resorted to playing it on the wii lately instead of the greens.

Jessica , just said a prayer for safety. Lobster trapping, now that's something I never would have thought of, but sounds yummy!

Georgiana, trust me, I'm infested with enough grunge that he doesn't feel so lucky sometimes. *wink wink* I only post the nice stuff about me.

Erica, hubby liked it. Thought it very inventive.

Katie, I've gone through the love dare several times. What a great concept, that's kind of what I'm emulating here for my Friday posts.

Stephanie, I hear you. Lasting friendships are treasures because they are so few. We seem to live in a transitional age, where people come and go. I thank God daily for my sisters, they seem to be the only truly consistent friends I've ever had. But it is nice to reconnect with old buds too.

Jeannie, You're a sweety! See, you and I have our challenge done very early this week. Hurray!

Jeanette, I wish hubby liked our men's group at our church, but he just hasn't got the desire to try it out. Can you tell Jody and I write romances? Love is in the air.

Jill, I'm posting these on Friday because for some, the weekend is the best time to fulfill a challenge, others need it to get warmed up.

Tana said...

You are so awesome! Lovely work. And you know what? I heart you!

Susan R. Mills said...

I'm hiding your blog from my hubby, or he'll be all "Why don't you do this kind of thing for me?" No, I'm only kidding. I think it's great, and I aspire to be more like you when it comes to treating my husband the way he should be. Maybe I'll let him out of the house this weekend! :)

P.S. Left a comment on your Wednesday post, too. Oye, I have a lot of catching up to do!

Sherrinda Ketchersid said...

That is such a wonderful idea! My husband doesn't have friends that he relaxes with. He meets with guys for "discussions", but not for fun. Thanks for the challenge!

Keli Gwyn said...

Not only did your hubby get time with his guy friends, but he went away knowing he had the support of a creative, generous wife. Awesome!

Suzette Saxton said...

I LOVE this idea! Thank you!