An Excellent Wife: How To Nurture Your Marriage

God created marriage. In His perfect wisdom, He designed man and woman to complement each other and to enjoy a permanent and complete union with each other. In Genesis 2:18 He said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.” After the Lord created Eve, He then said, “A man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.”

When you take time to nurture this oneness with your spouse, you bring honor to God and acknowledge His ideal design. As you love your marriage partner, you are showing love and obedience to God as well. And as an incredible result, you’ll experience the fullness and blessings that God designed for a married couple to enjoy! Take time now. Set aside five minutes and pray, “Lord, how can I express my love today?” Then write down every way you can think of to tell your honey, “I love you.”

“Nurturing oneness” in your marriage should be something you think and pray about every day. Make it a priority to find new ways to show your love.

by Elizabeth George (LINK) 

I posted this list in 2016 but thought it was worth re-posting as part of "My excellent wife" series I am doing this year. To nurture oneness one needs to be active in making sure you do things together, oneness will never happen if you are always off doing different things to your husband. It is ok to have different interests and  hobbies but not all the time — otherwise it is like two ships passing in the night. 

• Watch a romantic movie together whilst eating popcorn!
• Go for a romantic walk to watch the sunrise or sunset
• Write a poem for your spouse and frame it
• Gather up your favourite photos and create a collage to hang in the bedroom
• Make a book about why you love your husband and why you are thankful for him
• Candlelight dinner for two with the best china
• Family picnic on the rug in the living room (if cold) or outside if sunny and warm
• Make the entire day full of his favourites: the breakfast of his dreams, the dinner of his dreams, TV that is his favourite, his music, etc. Don’t say anything about it, surprise him all day long
• Learn how to dance together — this can be great fun (for some!!)
• Create a CD with songs that make you think of your sweetheart, and give it to your husband
• Turn off the TV and lay a boardgames on the floor surrounded by nibbles and lots of pillows and candles
• Leave little notes in his lunchbox so when he opens it at work he finds these beautiful notes. 
• Choose specialty foods, such as wine, cheese, fresh bread/dessert from a favourite bakery and enjoy in front of your warm fireplace
• Write a “Top 10 Reasons Why I Love You” list.
• Create your own bookclub of two —choose a book in which you are both interested, fiction or nonfiction. Read a new chapter each night before bed. This cozy tradition will allow you to spend some quality time together and often makes for thought provoking breakfast conversations.
• Bring homemade cookies or brownies to his office
• Stash a love note in his shoe, on the steering wheel in the car, on the bathroom mirror 
• Write a love letter and post it to your husband
• Share a bath
• Make a homemade gift
• Treat your husband to a massage
• Go for a drive, buy an ice-cream and go for a short walk together
• Take you husband on a mystery day out and take a picnic lunch with you.