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You can read my entire book right here. Just follow "A Sharing of Marital Secrets" Excerpts in the Blog Archive. The first one is in May 2009. Happy reading!

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Saturday's Blessings Report

You know how good things happen and you just want to tell somebody, and give thanks? Well, I'm providing a place for me, and for you, to do just that. A place to say, "Thank you for my blessing!" Prayer requests have their place, and so should saying, "Thank you" when your requests have been granted. So, each Saturday I will re-post Saturday's Blessings Report for us. It doesn't matter how large or small the blessing, just take a moment to say, "I thank you". This is our place. Our space.

Now, you don't have to wait until Saturday to post a "Thank you". Anytime the feeling hits you, you can find this post and report your blessing.

You can post a "Thank you" comment as many times as you like!

Let's share our blessings. We are all in this together, and we don't know when our words may help others get through a "rough patch" in their life. Let's let The Blessings Flow....

A Sharing of Marital Secrets -Except #80

Understanding
Start doing the Simple Sacrifices and see positive changes in your relationship. You can help your husband understand more about your nature – the nature of womanhood.

Take conversation, for instance. By nature, men and women communicate differently. Have you noticed that we acknowledge that we are listening after each sentence or so? Men don’t usually do that. One day, Craig and I were conversing. I kept talking, but Craig wasn’t saying anything.
Finally, I said, “You’re not paying any attention to me.” He said, “Yes, I am! I heard every word you said.” Then he repeated almost word for word everything I said. I said, “Well, you must not agree with what I was saying then.” He replied, “No, that’s not true. I agree 100 percent.”

I knew I was losing this battle, because I couldn’t figure out how to help him understand how I was feeling without nagging or being critical. So, I said, “Okay, honey. I’m sorry.”

A few minutes later, he started talking about how he wanted the backyard landscaped. He talked and talked and I listened, not making one sound. Finally, he said, “Abby, are you alright?”

“Yeah, I was just listening to you.”

“Oh, okay.” He continued talking before finally saying, “Baby, what’s wrong?”

“What do you mean?”

“It seems like you’re ignoring me. Did I say something wrong?”

“No, you didn’t say anything wrong. I just need for you to understand how I feel when you don’t respond to me as I’m talking. It makes me feel like I’m in a one-way conversation. When you don’t respond, I don’t know if you agree with what I’m saying or not. It makes me feel real uneasy.”

“Point well taken. I’m sorry.”

To Be Continued... Copyright 2000 by Abby Gail Smith (pen name of Robbie S. Redmon) All rights reserved.
Remember, I love hearing your comments!

A Sharing of Marital Secrets- Excerpt #79

#6 (Part 3 0f 3)
The point I’m trying to make is to be flexible. If plan A doesn’t work out, move on to plan B. It’s the thought that counts. If the thought is for him to know that you appreciate him, follow through until the end.

When you get frustrated over a plan that didn’t work, that means you were looking for a specific reaction. That’s manipulation. Don’t do anything for a reaction. Do it out of love. If you do it out of love, plan B, C or even D will come automatically because it will come from the heart.

Just remember to let your love shine through. Let your love show in your deeds. Let your actions be an extension of your love, and that part of your life will enrich you and love you back. Remember, you are responsible for your own happiness, and what you give, you get. We really do have a choice.

Yes, life is about choices. A lady in my church shared that she had always wondered about the Garden of Eden and why God allowed things to turn out as they did. God knew Adam and Eve were going to sin even before it happened. So why would He let sin come into the world if He could have prevented it from happening? She shared that after several years of wondering, she came to the conclusion that God had to set up a system that would give us a choice – the choice to do His will or to do our own will. If we make the choice to do His will, then He knows we are truly His. So I say to you, you have choices. Which way do you choose? The road to enter happiness which is giving of yourself, or the road to an unfulfilled life?

To Be Continued... Copyright 2000 by Abby Gail Smith (pen name of Robbie S. Redmon) All rights reserved.
Remember, I love hearing your comments!

A Sharing of Marital Secrets- Excerpt #78

#6 (Part 2 of 3)
When you want to express your love, it sometimes helps to have a plan B, and sometimes even a C and a D. Anytime you deal with human beings, things are bound to turn out differently than you expected.

A friend and I were having lunch on Valentine’s Day, and we discussed what we were going to do for our husbands that night. My friend said, “Abby, I’m going to fix that man the nicest bubble bath with candles and soft music.” I said, “Oh, yeah? That sounds nice. I do that for Craig sometimes.” She said, “Yeah, but I’m going to put him up a banner over the tub that says ‘I love you.’ You know, Abby, most women just wait for their husbands to bring them something for Valentine’s Day. They just have their hands open waiting for a handout.” I had to agree with her.

We giggled as we finished our lunch. The next day, same time, same place, I asked her how the evening went. She said, “Girl, it was a mess! Abby, I was so frustrated. Nothing went right.”
“I needed to get Bill out of the house so I could get everything set up. I sent him to the grocery store to pick up some things for me. After he left for the store, I literally ran around the house getting everything ready. I made a path of red paper hearts from the front door leading to the tub full of bubbles.” She explained, “But that man didn’t come right back like I had asked him to. I waited and waited, and the bath water started cooling off. So I kept running the hot water periodically to keep it warm. Finally he came, but through the back door! Bill never comes through the back door,” she said.

She went on to say, “Before I could turn around good and try and throw some of the hearts at the back door, the doorbell rang. Somebody was at the front door, and I scrambled to pick up the hearts. I called for Bill to help, and I threw the hearts at him saying, “These were for you anyway.” As if that wasn’t bad enough, I opened the door, and there stood my son coming home from work. We laughed about it later, but nothing turned out right!”

I had to laugh with her. You know it’s something special when you can laugh at yourself. Then she asked, “How about you? How was your Valentine’s surprise?” I said, “All I can tell you is that it was terrific!” She said, “I’m glad somebody’s plan worked out.”

What she didn’t know is that I had to resort to Plan C. Plan A didn’t work because Craig had eaten a heavy lunch and announced as he walked in the door, “I do not want anything else to eat for the rest of my life!” Well, I had to scratch the candle light dinner for two. So much for that!

To Be Continued... Copyright 2000 by Abby Gail Smith (pen name of Robbie S. Redmon) All rights reserved.
Remember, I love hearing your comments!