The Love Dare

Many of you have probably heard of The "Love Dare," a Christian book that turned into the movie Fireproof and has now become an I-Phone App that walks married couples through 40 days of devotionals and "dares". I have heard it mentioned here and there in the past and it sounded interesting but I never gave it any serious thought. A while back I was scrolling through I-Phone apps looking for a daily devotional and I ran across "The Love Dare."
Daniel and I have always tried to find ways to keep our marriage at the top of our list of priorities but in all honesty sometimes it seems to get shoved down a few notches without even realizing how it happened. When I saw this app I thought this is exactly what we need right now! Thinking that Daniel would probably think it was silly I held off a few days mentioning it. To my surprise, he liked the idea and was more than willing to participate. So, we both downloaded the app and every morning on our own time read the devotional and partake in the dare which can then be checked off once its completed.
The first few days of dares started out pretty easy....Resist the temptation to say anything negative to your spouse....do something nice that's out of the ordinary...you get the idea. It sounds pretty common sense but it opened the lines of communication a bit and got us talking and that little dare kept Daniel top of mind all day. It had me thinking what can I do nice for him, what words of encouragement can I give him, etc. It began to carry over to other parts of my life too. I have just been in a better mood it seems. Because of "The Love Dare"? I'm not sure but I know it's helped.
As the days progress the dares get more complex. For example, Dare 27 asks you to, "eliminate the poison of unrealistic expectations in your home." In conjunction it has you read Hebrews 10:24 "And let us consider on another to provoke unto love and to good works."This can mean many different things in your home big or small but either way it makes you look at things you may have turned a blind eye to because, well, lets face it, life has a way of making you only pay attention to whats in front of you right now. The deeper things are the sometimes easier they are to overlook. Or maybe you decide to save that talk for another day and another day becomes another week, month, year, you get the point.
Daniel and I don't have a perfect marriage. We have our share of arguments and disagreements just like anyone else. "The Love Dare" isn't going to make or break our marriage but its just another tool to help remind us that we made a commitment in front of God and our families because we found in each other a partner for life and a love that we knew could last a lifetime as long as we made the effort to cultivate and help that love grow and stay new. I highly recommend "The Love Dare" to anyone regarldless of what stage of your relationship you are in with your significant other. I "dare" you to try it! Hahaha!
With Love,
Busy B