On our date Friday night, my husband, Joe and I came up with a novel idea to help keep our marriage fresh. Each month, we will either buy or make each other a small gift, do an activity or make a new recipe that starts with the beginning letter of the month.
So, for February, we’ll be checking out recipes for Flank Steak. And I’m secretly hoping Joe brings home flowers some night. I can’t tell you what I’m planning for two reasons:
1. He reads my blog.
2. I haven’t thought of it yet.
But I love this idea! It will keep us talking to each other about…each other. And sharing in this way creates emotional intimacy. And emotional intimacy translates into deeper intimacy in the marriage overall.
John Paul II, in his writings on Theology of the Body expounded upon how emotional intimacy is a building block of marriage. If you are interested in learning about this topic, check out the following books:
Love and Responsibility by Karol Wojtyla (JPII)
Theology of the Body for Beginners by Christopher West
Men and Women Are From Eden by Mary Healy
I believe that iamitncy is not an act, but a state of being. It’s the way you look at one another, the way you respond to one another, verbally and phyically. Couples tend to get caught up in routine day to day stuff, that they begin to lose the essence of what brought them together. The man no longer sends flowers, the woman seldom wears something appealing to bed. Sex becomes routine, complacency sets in. Intimacy doesn’t begin in the bedroom, it’s starts with holding hands, or a gentle touch, a kiss on the neck in the kitchen hours before bedtime. It’s the look you give eachother that says I love you, or you are beautiful/handsome. Intimacy is having your own private jokes when you have company. Intimacy has very little to do with sex, it’s about the connection you have to with one another. When you let life get in the way of the small things that matter and the bills and the business of marriage takes over, that’s when you begin to lose the iamitncy in the marriage then it can feel more like a business arrangement than a love affair.