Date Nights + TV = Changes

John 13:34    ³⁴"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another." (New American Standard Bible)

 I can't tell you how many times I've heard someone comment about not marrying someone with the intent of changing them. We've even told our kids this.  When I married Honey, I knew he was a sports nut.  I think it's a genetic thing in his family.  When we talked about getting married (almost 21 yrs ago) and checked on dates available at church, the only ones open were Memorial Day Weekend and June 23.  Honey said there was NO WAY we were getting married on MDW - I was thinking it was because of the traffic and people planning family time and traveling. Nope, it was because that was the weekend of the Indy 500!  Yes, we were thinking on different pages.

I think last night was the first time that I have really annoyed that restaurants display large, flat screened TV's.  Honey and I took advantage of a free night and some restaurant gift cards I had received at Christmas for an impromptu date night at TGI Fridays.  Normally we don't go there, but who can complain about a free meal! a Food was great, server was in training, but really nice, but there are TVs everywhere!  You can't get away from them and to make it worse - most of them are turned to sports stations.  These places are not helping one bit!  My husband has this radar that hones in on anything sports related within a huge mile radius.  He has, in fact, passed this gene on to our oldest son. 

I cannot change Honey, nor do I want to.  Okay, there are a few things I wish were different, but .  This morning I was reading from  Love and War and guess what the topic was?  Yes, changing our spouses... Yes, God!  I'm listening!  Thanks for the reminder and the nudge to make sure the changes start from within me and not expecting the transformation to come from Honey. 

Dear God, I ask you to open my eyes to any styles of relation that I have that are self-serving, self-protective, unloving.  I want to change. I invite you to change me. I choose to repent of every way that is keeping me from truly loving.  Please help me shift my focus from changing my spouse to letting you change me.  Eldredge