Endless Opportunities for Manipulation

Last night, HH and I were reading a "couples devotional" book that we received as a wedding gift. In some ways, we've decided that its value is nominal since we're used to getting "meaty meat" and these tend to be a little superficial and cutesy. But they're good enough that we've found them to be worthwhile, and even better is that it prompts discussions that we probably wouldn't otherwise have.

Last night's devo was on praying with your spouse (the previous one was praying for your spouse). One of the closing discussion questions was, "What benefits are there to praying with your spouse?"

HH listed off a couple of great ones -- it draws you closer to one another and to God, it keeps your relationship centered on Christ, it helps with communication and vulnerability.

I added one really important one: it's a great way for subtly communicating things to your spouse, like things you want him/her to change, or things you want them to do. Sort of like a kid telling Santa -- in front of the parents -- what he wants for Christmas.

In that spirit, here's a "prayer" I sent to HH today. (btw, God answered this prayer; it works!)

"Dear Jesus, please help HH to come on my Costco run with me so that I won't have to be lonely and carry all that heavy stuff all by myself and so I can have a few minutes of quality time with my husband today. Amen."

love,

molly