Spying on spouse: Approved!

When I was a teenager, Laser tag was just becoming a teenage hot spot. Likewise, it was just headed out as a teenage hot spot, but for the 13 days that it was relevant--we jumped on that bandwagon! I went with a group of friends to the local arena and was basically a nervous wreck the whole game. I was not confident in my running-around-spying-on-people-and-then-laser-blasting-them skills. I tried to hide as best I could and sneak around until someone better at sneaking around would find me and blast me before I even had a chance. Thank heavens for regenerating lives! I credited my obvious failure to my kind and non-confrontational heart...but that was probably just a cover-up for my inability to spy.Fast-forward to present day. And the best time of the year: Christmas! My favorite part of Christmas is watching Christmas movies. One of my favorite movies is "Elf" starring Will Ferrrell as a human raised by elves on a quest to find his human father. In his first experience in the real world, away from the North Pole and a life of half-sized people, he encounters his first human woman, Jovie. After getting to know Jovie he says to her, "I think you're really beautiful and I feel really warm when I'm around you and my tongue swells up. So… do you want to eat food?" (Elf 2003) When I hear that, it reminds me of the good ol' days when I would feel the same way about Eric. But are those days gone? Not at all. If you have found that you are missing the good ol' days or warm feelings and swollen tongues, it is time to bust out your closet set of laser guns! Figuratively speaking...unless you really do have laser guns, that would be fun too! Time to strategize, make a plan, think about how best to spy on your spouse. And if you do it right, you may find your aim will be right on target and victory will be your(relationship)s!! 

My husband is a teacher by profession. I'm never in his classroom, we're apart all day. He prepares his lessons at work and when he comes home he is ready to relax and spend time with his family. But I know that he is good at what he does. I know that he is passionate about teaching and passionate about his students. Think about what your spouse excels at, what is his or her passion? Maybe it's ice fishing, baking, mechanical engineering, color commentating for local sports, drawing, or counseling. Focus on one passion of your spouse, and then spy on them while they do what they do best. Some passions will be easy to sneak up on...others might take a little bit of work to catch them at their finest--but I think it would be worth it. I have had the opportunity to be a fly on the wall on several occasions while my husband just teaches. And it is AMAZING. I mostly just sit back and stare at him. He is a master! He is captivating! He is engaging! He loves his class, he loves his material. It is inspiring. And I love watching him excel in his passion. It makes me want to tell him he's beautiful, and makes me feel warm and my tongue swells. And we usually go and eat food after. Teaching is only one example of moments that I have been able to spy on my husband. Any time I get to see him doing what he loves I've had the same experience. It is exhilarating to see him thrive. And I really connect my laser to the target when afterwards I tell him how much I loved watching him. I sincerely compliment him and point out all of his strengths. I let him know it is one of my greatest joys to see him do something that brings him joy. So try it out, sneak around, don't get caught, just peek in and let your spouse amaze you!!