So, it's official, I am totally out of the loop and behind the times in the Christian world. It took me this long to see the movie Fireproof. Here's what's so funny about that: Last week, I was browsing CBD (online christian bookseller) and looking at bestsellers. I came across this book called "The Love Dare"... it's coming up on Valentine's day, I'm on a Christian website, so I'm tempted. I gotta know what it's about. CBD has this thing where you can read excerpts from books. Like an entire chapter before you buy. So, I tried it out and I nearly cracked up the whole first chapter. It was on patience.... ahhh, patience... that thing I don't really have so much of.
I have a tendency to have something my sister and I have affectionately dubbed, "tone issues". I will be fine, happy even, joking one minute.. and the next, it's hard to know if I'm really mad at you, very tired or just have "tone issues". Things come out bad (abrupt, a harsh tone), but I don't usually mean it. Sometimes everything I say comes out in that tone. (If I'm talking with my sister, she'll say, "Are you mad with me or do you just have "tone" today?" That little term has helped my sister and I overcome a lot of issues with each other. I'm also prone to apologize a lot, but I know that it's hard to take something back once it's been said. The first dare from that chapter is to, essentially, hold your tongue. If you can't say something nice, don't say anything. Nothing. hahahahahah. I broke out in rolling laughter. That got Robbie going asking what had me so tickled and stuff. I read the chapter to him... he also busted out in laughter... then he dared me. He said, "You couldn't do it." That was it, I was in!
Per the book, you are supposed to do the dares for 1 day, 24 hours, but he wanted to take it farther. He said I might not even make it a few hours. Then he added a twist. He said if I could make it 30 days, we could buy the book and do the whole thing together. WHAT? T-o-g-e-t-h-e-r.....for real??? Now that was truly tempting. This is important in 2 ways: 1. We've been minding all our pennies lately and 2. Robbie is not much on reading self-improvement type books, much less together. We've been married for a little over a year and have definitely gotten to that point where all that glitters isn't gold..... we know each other well, and the pet peaves are brewing at times. My "tone issues" are Robbie's #1 pet peave. I took him up on it and here we are 5 days in and I'm doing fine. It's very hard though. I have to think about what I'm gonna say (most of the time mid-sentence) and turn my words or my tone so ends up better than I am starting out. When I told my mom about the dare, she also burst into laughter (she had just been here over the weekend to see our current banters first hand). She just said, "Kim, doesn't it take 21 days to form a habit?" and then she laughed some more. I hope she's right, maybe I could cure this issue once and for all!
We celebrated Valentine's Day last night with an experimental dinner (that he actually liked this time) and cheesecake, we watched Fireproof (finally) and I saw where The Love Dare came from and how it plays out. I thought it would be a movie I'd have to be watching myself sometime b/c I didn't think I could get Robbie into a Christian movie that he'd stick with me through, specifically one with Kirk Cameron (oh how I love him from the 80's) given his specials on TBN that totally turn Robbie (and even me at times) off. But, this movie was actually very well made. It's a mushy movie that even my husband liked! We both had tears at times. We cheered and cheered for the couple. I was totally impressed with this movie. And, I'm really excited!! Cause I know I'm gonna make it 30 days and we're gonna get that book! I might even splurge for the old leather looking one instead of the paperback! Now, if I could only learn to turn my words before I start my sentences...
