The Love Doctor

It is almost Valentines Day. I wanted to encourage you to do something inexpensive and meaningful for someone that you care about. Instead of waiting to see if anyone does anything for you; I challenge you to be creative and do something for someone else that you love.

Here are a couple of inexpensive ideas that I have done in the past & I would LOVE to hear some of yours~

"The Love Doctor"

Take an empty medicine bottle (washed out & label removed.) Make up a fun label that says something like:

"For Emotional Health, please take one tablet daily or as needed for encouragement."

Put your own name as the prescribing doctor. You can make it as "official" looking as you choose - including your "prescription refill" number & phone number, etc.

Inside you will put one line (typed and cut out) reasons that you love the person, what makes them unique or special, funny things that you love about them or things they say often, etc. Then simply roll up the slip of paper tightly and put a small amount of tape on to seal the edge. (making it look like a pill.) Make sure to compliment more than their physical or exterior strengths.

Some examples to get you started:

For a Spouse - "You do a wonderful job providing for our family even during difficult financial times." "I love the way that you encourage the kids if they have had a bad day." "It secretly makes me smile every time you wear those ripped jeans that I always tell you to throw out." "I love it when you share a Scripture Verse that has stood out to you."

For a Child - "I love your hugs!" "You are such an amazing big brother!" "I'm so proud of how you play Basketball." "It makes my heart smile when you pray for your friends." "You rock at math!"

You can use colored paper or use colored ink if you choose. Try to think of 20-30 things so they have a full month's supply. It is easy to do this for a parent, grandparent, friend, etc. You can also just write out encouraging Scripture verses as well.

"Coupon Books"

This is a very well known idea; but I challenge you to put in a few things that might take a little more effort on your part.

Basic ideas - "Redeem this coupon for _______ " (favorite meal, back rub, down time, chores you will do in their place, etc)

More Challenging ideas - These will take more effort on your part and you may want to include a little "fine print" to help these be more successful.

"Redeem this coupon to 'get out of the dog house for free'" *To redeem this coupon; you may simply bring the coupon to me and say, "I'm sorry." You must then give me 15 minutes of alone time.

-During that 15 minutes of alone time, you breathe deep and choose to let go of the offense. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail (or a close friend) to give you a couple of Scriptures or to be praying for you!!! In order for this one to be effective; you will need to let go of the offense - surrender it to the Lord and not pick it back up. **You may only want to put one of these into your booklet if you know it will be a challenge for you** Keep in mind that if they are willing to come to say "I'm sorry" and bring you the coupon that they are not wanting to be at odds with you and are reaching out to be at peace!

"Redeem this coupon for a three hour block of uninterrupted sports watching (gaming, etc)!" *To redeem this coupon; it must be presented to me 24 hours in advance of the sporting event you wish to watch and must not conflict with a previously scheduled event.*

-You will have 24 hrs notice here so plan accordingly. If there are children at the house; either take them out or plan activities to keep them busy during the sports time. You can really bless them by going out of your way to provide their favorite snacks as well. *If this is done effectively; you can begin to open communication lines between you & your spouse by helping them to understand that with a little notice and consideration there can be much more peace.

I'd love to hear some of your inexpensive Valentine ideas!!! (Especially because I've already used the above mentioned ones!)

In Christ's Love,

Shanda