Have you ever seen the kid's movie Madagascar?
If so, you'll remember that from the time the four main characters (Marty, Melvin, Gloria & Alex) get onto the island, they don't eat anything. Nothing. Not until the very end of the movie when the shifty penguins introduce them to sushi, do they finally fill their hunger.
Respect is everything to a man.
I had no idea what this even meant until I picked up the book: Love and Respect: The Love She Most Desires. The Respect He Desperately Needs.
God dropped this little book into my hands at the exact right moment and it literally saved my marriage.
It taught me that the same way that MY primary need in a relationship is love, my husband's primary need is respect.
I couldn’t believe what I was reading and I was amazed I had never noticed it before.
That the key to my man’s heart was respect (not love).
I couldn’t wait to try it out.
I closed my eyes and clenched my teeth as I was about to speak words into the phone that felt so fake and unnatural to me.
We were not even married yet.
Yet, we were going on four years of the most bipolar and dysfunctional relationship you can imagine. I was exhausted.
I knew we loved each other deep down, but we could not make our relationship work.
Oh my heart today. As I sat in that little wooden half-dome in the pay room, and watch T walking around with his "tool", trying to "fix things" for me.
Oh my heart is splattered. This responsibility of being a mom to this boy- all the boys; my heart throbs and I don't want to mess it up. I don't want to go into a numb funk and forget this important focus:
The heart of my boys, my husband included, loves to serve me!
They want to see me smile big and proud and say things like, "Great job!!" and "Thank you SO much!!" and "Wow, you are so strong and so good at that."
I know because as I say those things my two-year-old runs quickly to the next thing to "fix it" as fast as he can. And he says, "I fix for you, Mom." My. Heart.
I know because my oldest son tells me for almost