Can A Zebra Change Its Stripes?

affection - Can a Zebra Change Its Stripes?

Greet one another with a holy kiss. 1 Corinthians 16:20, NASB

As I (Teresa) mentioned before, I’m not naturally affectionate. My husband, David, is just the opposite. He likes to hold hands and give hugs. He always has lots of “sugary” words to say. My words often sound stunted, rather than sugary, and holding hands is sometimes a little too mushy for me.

You might think David and I are a bad match, but I assure you we are a great match. That’s because God has provided me with a very affectionate husband who can encourage change in me. The Lord has used David to help me grow comfortable with my feelings and with expressing them toward others.

It has been a process for me. I started off by writing a few sentences in a card to express the best I could the love I felt for David. Next, I worked up to writing a whole letter in which I told David all the feelings that were inside of me. I became comfortable doing that because I could take the time to write, rewrite, and edit anything that wasn’t just right. Finally, I graduated to actually saying tender words of love to David, who is patient and listens attentively simply because he knows it isn’t always easy for me to communicate those things.

Am I a superaffectionate person now? No, but I am a lot warmer now than I would have been if I had married a male version of myself. I now reach for David’s hand before he reaches for mine. Sometimes I even hug him before he hugs me. To some, that may not sound like much, but it’s been a long journey for me and my husband.

In what specific ways will you show affectionate physical touch to your spouse today?