12 Gifts of Marriage: Day 9 {bonus: 12 Days of Christmas Giveaway}

By Fawn Weaver on Thursday, January 2, 2014

12 Gifts of Marriage - Day 9

               DAY 9: A BETTER YOU

“When people don’t live up to your expectations…show more grace.”  These were my husband’s encouraging words when sharing his New Year’s resolution for me.

Every New Year’s Eve, it is our annual tradition to spend time thinking about two things: Five personal goals for the upcoming year and five areas of growth we’d like to see in each other.

On an index card, I fill one side with New Year’s resolutions for myself and on the flip side I do the same for my husband.  During our New Year’s Eve dinner, we exchange cards.  It’s one of my favorite date nights of the year.

Last night, however, with the incredibly busy season we are in leading up to next week’s release of the Happy Wives Club book, we decided to do it a little differently.

We each told the other one major area of growth we’d noticed from the current year and one area of improvement needed in the new year.  

For me, the greatest area of growth Keith noticed was my determination to finish one project before moving on to the next (something that has been a weakness in my personality throughout  my life).

And for my area of improvement, it was to show a greater amount of grace.  I hold myself to a very high standard, “But you can’t hold others to the same standard you require of yourself,” he reminded me.

In that conversation, one of the single most beneficial gifts of marriage came to life: A Better You (a better me).

Your spouse likely knows you better than anyone else.  You share the same bed, and sometimes, even the same pillow.  One of the best gifts you can give is to help each other become your best selves.  Because that, my friends, is what allows you to create your best life.

I’d be honored if you’d join me here tomorrow for Day 10 of our 12 Gifts of Marriage series, and if you desire, scroll down to participate in our 12 Days of Christmas spectacular giveaway.  

Until tomorrow…make it a great day!

Email Signature transparent

P.S. If you are wondering what happened to Day 8, I made a last minute decision to take a one-day break from this series to share this inspiring new post with you: 10 New Year’s Resolutions for Your Marriage.  It just seemed like the right thing to do on New Year’s Eve. Hope you didn’t mind.

___________

12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS SPECTACULAR GIVEAWAY

Every day, for 12 days, I will post an encouragement for your marriage at the top.  And then, a pretty spectacular giveaway at the bottom in honor of the release of my upcoming book, Happy Wives Club. (Still can’t believe we are just a few days away from its release!)

TODAY’S GIFT: Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1!

No purchase is necessary, entering to win is simple, and you control your number of entries.  But if you do choose to pre-order the book (Amazon and Barnes & Noble have it 25% off today), make sure to scroll down because we’re giving you tons of FREE STUFF!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Here are the details for the awesome FREE GIFTS you’ll get for pre-ordering Happy Wives Club today. (**If you’ve already pre-ordered, you get these too!)

HWC_PreOrderGifts_920x786_4

If You Pre-Order 1-4 Books:

  • Love Notes: a brand new eBook by Fawn Weaver
  • An mp3 download of Happy Wives Club audio book read by Fawn Weaver
  • 50 photos with inspirational quotes from Happy Wives Club

If You Pre-Order 5+ Books (perfect for starting a book club with friends):

  • Get all the great gifts from the list above
  • The Official ”Happy Wife” T-shirt
  • The Official HWC “Happy” Mug
  • Invitation to join Fawn’s private book club Facebook group where she’ll personally guide you through the lessons contained in this book and answer your questions

HOW DOES IT WORK?

All you have to do is email a copy of your receipt (or order confirmation email) to hwcbook@gmail.com.  If you’ve already pre-ordered your book, just email your receipt and you still get these gifts!  For additional details: http://happywivesclubbook.com/blog/preorder.

WANT TO GIVE THIS BOOK AS A GIFT BEFORE ITS RELEASE ON 1/7/14?

Not to worry, we created these beautiful printables you can give to anyone letting them know you’ve pre-ordered the book for them as a Christmas gift, anniversary, wedding or engagement present.

##

JOIN THE 1,000,000 MEMBER CHALLENGE: If you haven’t already done it, what are you waiting for? Join the club! It takes only a few seconds and, of course, is free.

Are you a blogger?  Click Here to join us for the It’s All About Love blog tour in honor of the Happy Wives Club book launch.

My Twitter profileMy Facebook profileMy Google+ profileMy LinkedIn profile

Fawn Weaver

Founder at Happy Wives Club
Fawn Weaver is the USA Today® and New York Times® bestselling author of Happy Wives Club: One Woman's Worldwide Search for the Secrets of a Great Marriage, adopting the same name as the Club she founded in 2010. The Happy Wives Club community has grown to include more than 900,000 women in over 110 countries around the world. When she’s not blogging or working on her next project, she's happily doting over her husband of nearly eleven years, Keith.

 

Please note: I reserve the right to delete comments that are snarky, offensive, or off-topic. If in doubt, read My Comment Policy
  • http://www.modernmarried.com/ Maggie Reyes

    Oh Fawn, what is so amazing about this blog post is that every year I choose a word to guide me (instead of making a resolution, I live into the energy of the word and use it as a compass.) Well, in the last couple of years my word has chosen me.

    This year I *almost* chose create, because there is so much I want to create…and then just yesterday I stumbled upon a grace, a friend mentioned it in a very special conversation and I knew it was my word.

    And now this. ‘Show more grace.’ In the first sentence of your first post of the new year. Grace has so many layers – ease and beauty and mercy and manifestations of favor. For me, I know it means connect more to the Divine. And now I know it also means, show that connection to other people.

    Please tell Keith that “to inspire” is to “breathe life into” and every day that he does that for you, he does that for all of us.

    So Blessed and Grateful.

    XO.

    • http://www.happywivesclub.com/ Fawn @ Happy Wives Club

      Love this, Maggie! How amazing that you and I both have “grace” as our words to guide us forward this year? Two peas in a pod :) .

  • Susanne

    What a great New Year’s tradition. Your husband sounds like a very wise person