What are love maps? To me they are little notes you take for yourself as you navigate life with your spouse. Little notes and lists like, he doesn’t like pepper in his food, he needs time to unwind after work, he has an important meeting today so I will prepare his favorite breakfast and pray specifically about his meeting. As I have learned about what love maps are and how they can help a marriage I have found a greater desire to dust off and create a larger more detailed love map. I feel that after a while you get into a routine and you don’t pay as much attention to the little things that are important to your spouse. This week I have enjoyed taking the time to think of all the little things that make my husband unique and special to me. Something that I really haven't done in a while. We tend to allow too much of the “Natural Man” into our hearts and lives. We forget what really matters and what is really important. Since focusing on the little things that I love and enjoy about my husband I have had a lot less time to think and fester on the differences that irritate me.
I have also been thinking about other maps. Specifically, the Marauders Map in Harry Potter. Harry can find the information he is looking for and keep track of the people in his life by looking at the map. The key phrase to Harry Potters map is “mischief managed”. How coincidental that it is that phrase. If we keep and maintain our love maps we can better manage the mischief that comes our way. We are better prepared to meet the needs and changes of our spouse as we come to know and understand them better.
References
Gottman, J. M., & Silver, N. (2015). The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work: A
Practical Guide from the Country's Foremost Relationship Expert. New York: Harmony Books.
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