Romance? Originally posted 2/2006

It seems a strange thing to us that most people smirk when David and I mention that we are working on improving the romance in our relationship. Apparently because we have twelve children they are led to believe romance is not a problem for us. David and I both understand that after the last little Davenport leaves home, (hard to imagine that time right now!), we do not want to be strangers and we want to still be madly in love!

One of our favorite scenes in the newer version of Cheaper By The Dozen is when Mr. Baker catches Mrs. Baker watching him as he walks toward their van. He says to her," You were checking me out, weren't you?". She admits she was. He smiles, does a sort of happy dance and says," Twelve kids and we still have the heat!". That the parents are still married and in love is probably the best message in this movie.

It always fascinates me how God works in both of our hearts, separately, but at the same time on the same issue. To say our relationship gets a bit strained with sharing a house with 10 children (our oldest two are at Gleanings in CA as mission builders - not sure how long they will be there but possibly till the end of summer 2006), and having a nursing newborn who doesn't always sleep through the night, is an understatement. We miss having quality time together. Just a chance to talk without being interrupted. Or, as my friend Dana says, being able to talk to someone I haven't given birth to! One of the things I was working on to keep our relationship fresh was:

a)carving out special time together at home

b)plans to surprise David with rearranging our room, painting it and making it generally nicer

I will write about what I have done for part (a) on a later post. For now, I will focus on part (b). I got the room rearranged one day while David was at work. Shortly after this he was inspired to think about making our room nicer and searched the web for ideas. He found an article I will add the link below for you to read (Disregard the Feng Shui stuff in the article - there is a lot of other good info in it.) After reading the article we both got to thinking of all we could do to make our room a beautiful "love nest". Of course my surprise was shot, but for the better. I got to go shopping for new bedding and drapes and next is paint. I never would have made such a dramatic change without David wanting it done! But this is going to turn out 10 times better than what my surprise ideas were!

The Lord really blessed us with helping me find beautiful things all on sale or clearance. (Like a $375 bedding set for $112!) I am going to attempt to remake our bedside lamps to match the new decor (That was David's idea - spray paint and trim right?). I even found a room screen (one of those with 3 sections that you can fold up) in a cherry stain finish (which is what we have on our bedroom furniture) on clearance at Fred Meyer. It was normally $119.00 and I got it for $39.00! Oh, I got it to hide the treadmill in our room since moving it out of our room is out of the question for now. So, you don't have to spend a lot of money to make your bedroom nicer.

I will post a picture when we get the room all done. It's all the painting that will take a while. Hopefully it will be soon though!

Here is my challenge to you: after you read this article plan to do (or just do it!) one thing that is suggested as a good change for your bedroom. You could also share the article with your spouse and makes some plans together. Share your thoughts and results in the comment section please! No change is too small. De-cluttering is a huge thing and a great place to start.

I have also posted below a link for a great book to read together with your spouse. It is a study of the Song of Solomon, and you can use it as an 8 week bible study or just read it together. It has a section on making your bedroom a special place; a place that is relaxing, comfortable and beautiful. They refer to it as "Engedi". This book would also make a great Valentines gift for your sweetie. Maybe even read it together by candlelight in a nice, warm bubble bath!

Lastly, I've put a picture of the before and after of our nightstand lamps I painted to match our "new" room. They were very plane, light blue to start with and I spray painted them with a gold "stone" spray paint. Then, with a hot glue gun, I added some goldish brown trim from the fabric store to the top and bottom edges of the lamp shade. New lamps would have cost at least $10 a piece and it is unlikely I would have found any to match our new colors for that price. With the spray paint and trim it cost me less than $10 to re-make both lamps.

Blessings,
jerri

10 Sure-Fire Feng Shui Tips for More Romance - By Kathryn Weber
http://www.selfgrowth.com/articles/Weber6.html


Intimacy Ignited - By Joseph and Linda Dillow
Conversations Couple to Couple: Fire Up Your Sex Life with the Song of Solomon