Day Two and Counting...

• It rained 40 days and 40 nights during the Flood (Genesis 7: 4)
• Noah waited 40 days after the waters receded and the Ark settled on Mount 
• The Israelites ate Manna 40 years in the Desert (Genesis 16: 35-6)
• Moses spent 40 days and nights on Mount Sinai (Exodus 24: 18) comes down to the 
• The scouts from the 12 tribes spied out the Promised Land 40 days before they returned a bad report (Numbers 13: 25). Therefore, the Israelites were required to spend 40 years “wandering” in the Wilderness (Numbers 14: 33; Deuteronomy 29: 4)
• Goliath “taunted” Israel 40 days before his defeat by David (1 Samuel 17: 16)
• King David reigned for 40 years (2 Samuel 5: 4)
• King Solomon reigned for 40 years (1 Kings 11: 42)
• Jonah preached to Nineveh for 40 days before they repented (Jonah 3: 4)
• Elijah fasted 40 days in the wilderness (1 Kings 19: 8)
• Jesus spent 40 days Fasting in the Desert after His baptism (Matthew 4: 1-2)
• Jesus also spent 40 days on earth following His Resurrection (Acts 1: 3)
• Jesus, by tradition, spent 40 hours in the tomb.

I am by no means one of those that says, "You must push through to exactly forty days to receive a break-through from the Lord!" But, statistically, I can say that it seems God used the timeline of forty days to do some pretty rad things. Oddly enough, a book that Nate and I started (The Love Dare) is a book with a timeline. You guessed it! Forty days.

The appeal is that at the end of forty days, your marriage can be transformed. I like that. It's not some lovey-dovey, super-spiritual, high-and-mighty book that makes you want to burn it. It's a very short, quick and to the point kind of writing. It's set up to allow you to take the reigns. It will ask you each day to step out of your comfort zone and do something out of the norm. Simple things, like, "Buy your spouse something special today." "Don't say a negative comment towards your spouse today." "Do something selfless today." It seems as if these would be easy commands, but when you are a selfish person like myself, they are actually quite difficult. Nonetheless, Nate and I have agreed to take this journey...together. And I'd like to share it with you. There's never a better time than now to fine-tune your marriage.

Day One: "Love is Patient"

The Dare: "The first part of this dare is fairly simple. Although love is communicated in a number of ways, our words often reflect the condition of our heart. For the next day, resolve to demonstrate patience and to say nothing negative to your spouse. If the temptation arises, choose not to say anything. It's better to hold your tongue then say something you'll regret."

The Outcome: We had a B I G temptation come up that day, but we worked through it...and yes, finding something positive to say was nearly impossible, so i shut my mouth.

DAY ONE: SUCCESS

Day Two: "Love is Kind"

The Dare: "In addition to saying nothing negative to your spouse again today, do at least one unexpected gesture as an act of kindness."

The Outcome: Nate has to make like 3 meals for his lunch daily. He always wakes a little earlier in the mornings to be sure it's all done before time for work. This morning, I set my clock about 15 mins earlier. Man, that sucked. I know its just 15 mins, but geeeeeeeeeez that felt like an hour earlier. Half asleep, I reluctantly got up and put his lunch together for him, the whole time thinking, "This is some selfless stuff right here! I better get a Starbucks drink out of this sometime today!" Well, needless to say, my selfishness hasn't disappeared yet...but hey, it's only day 2! On a side note, he really appreciated it ANNND he fixed dinner and cleaned the kitchen tonight to complete HIS dare:) 

DAY TWO:  SUCCESS

38 days and counting...