Goal #41 "Tuesday" Night Questions

41. Answer Tuesday Night Questions consistently for 12 weeks.

One of the things that we talked about when we celebrated our 2nd Anniversary was ways to stay connected and in love for a very long time. [Good goal, eh?] Well I mentioned in my anniversary post about a blog that had some wonderful ideas. This is where Tuesday Night Questions came into play. [Tuesdays is simply what worked for us initially. It's just a coincidence that the original source used Tuesday's too.] Since Ainsley's birth, Chris hasn't worked Wednesday morn

I liked the questions that the couple asked each other and felt like they pretty much covered everything--or at least were conversation starters to cover other topics that needed to be covered. So for the last 12 weeks, Chris and I have been intentional about setting aside time to ask each other the following 4 questions:

1. How did you feel loved this past week?
2. What does your upcoming week look like?
3. How would you feel most loved & encouraged in the days ahead? [Need motivation for anything?]
4. How would you feel best pursued in sex/intimacy this week?

They aren't super profound, but they help to make sure that we're on the same page and each other's needs/wants are being met. It's also a time to show appreciation for your needs/wants being met [particularly through question #1].

One thing that came up in a recent conversation was that Mister felt like his creative love was getting a bit dusty and needed to use it a bit more. Well that he did!

Yesterday morning after all three of us slowly woke, we headed out for a walk to the park. Mister had made a scroll [scrolls have become pretty significant in our relationship] and he wanted to go there to give it to me. It was an absolutely beautiful Fall day so I was all about the walk. [There's a park about 3ish blocks from our house.] We loaded Ains in the stroller and headed out the door.

Taking in the Fall beauty and chatting away, we were about 3/4 of the way there when Chris suddenly stopped. "Uh, I lost it." The scroll that he had put in his back pocket was no longer there. We looked where we were and then headed back towards our house to find it. There wasn't great significance in being at the park when I read it, so once we found it [5 houses from our house] we just headed back home and he gave it to me there.

As you can see, the scroll was dropped pretty close to our house. Not so close to the park. :)

Mister with his/my scroll.

Sitting on the front porch, I read the words written directly from his heart to mine:

And Then There Were Three...

When we began our journeY all I was thinking abOut was the two of Us, together, forever. Ah what bliss I pictured us togetheR! I may have imaginEd the journey with kids somewhere in the mix, but it wAs mostly just the two of us walking hand-in-hand through life.

Of course, as our journey proGressed I began to entertain the amazing thought of Raising a family with you, and the joy of that prospect drEw us onto that part of the journey.

No longer is it just you And me walking through life hand-in-hand, seeing whaT kind of adventures we can get ourselves into. Now it's you and me and Ainsley, wakling hand-in-hand-on-stroller. And I love it!

I wouldn't trade it for just the two of us. Getting to see your warM tenderness with our daughter is whAt I consider pure bliss now. Seeing how you care for her as you nurse her is really aMazing! Watching you selflessly chAnge diapers, pump extra milk, take time away from teaching, give up sleep to keep her fed and clean: what a great start Ainsley is getting Because of you.

I fall more in lovE with you as I see you do these things. I am so fortunAte to be on this journey with you.

Thank you my beautiful bride and perfect mama bear!

Love,

Papa Bear

9-13-11

Notice the bolded capital letters, just like in his "asking out" scroll, they had their own message. 

We continued in meaningful, intentional conversation before heading in to pack up to go to his parents' house. We were going to be learning some basics of canning by making grape jelly! And I think Grandma & Grandpa Massie wanted to see lil' Ainsley! :)

And Then There Were Three...

This is just an example of the good that has come out of our Tuesday Night Questions. I appreciate and feel cherished when Chris expresses himself in this way and he also feels like he's tapping into various aspects of his personality by showing love in this way. [I hope that part about him makes sense. He really does enjoy it. It's not all about me! :)]

So if you aren't taking time to connect with your spouse, I highly suggest that you start now, even if you've been married for decades! I hope to keep this habit a habit for many years to help me stay best connected to my best friend.

P.S. I've hit 5,007 blog views in the history of this blog! Thanks for checking it out and reading it! I hope you [whoever you are] enjoy the glimpse into our ordinary life that we try to live out extraordinarily. I always find it fascinating, and an honor, when I see people out and about and they tell me that they read my blog. I appreciate you taking time out of your busy lives to read about ours. :)