Love Languages

Gary Chapman wrote a book called The Five Love Languages. If you haven't read it, you should. Every person has a love language. How do you show and receive love? This is your love language. There are five love languages: gifts, quality time, acts of service (cooking for them, cleaning, etc), words of affirmation (I love you, you're pretty, you're the best, etc), and touch. 

In every relationship, you should examine each of your love languages. If you know each other's love languages, you know how to love them better! Otherwise you can each be using your own love language all day long and they don't get it because you aren't speaking their love language. If you ask each other how they feel loved, then you can better understand them. It might not be how you show or feel love, but that's the point of asking. It may not feel natural to you, but it will better your relationship. 

I'm sure my husband doesn't like spending 5 minutes in the card aisle looking for a girly card, but that time means more to me than buying me a box of chocolates. My husband could spend all of his money showering me with gifts, but what I really want is him to tell me he loves me or thinks I am pretty. A card says more than anything to me. I think most kids love language is certainly gifts or quality time. Or maybe all of the languages...What do you think? My kids NEED me to cook and clean for them, but do they feel loved because I do? Probably not. More than anything, they love it when I play with them. My mother is definitely an acts of service person. She would much prefer I did the dishes for her than anything else...Although, they probably wouldn't sit in the dish rack the "right" way. Haha! 

I think all of our relationships could improve by taking a look at our love languages and communicating to the other person what that is. When I was talking to my husband about the book, I told him my love languages were Quality time and Words of Affirmation. His retort was, "What? You're telling me you're bilingual?!?" It made me laugh. He listened though. I have received two or three beautiful cards from him since then . That speaks VOLUMES to me. :-)