Day 134: Back Massage #3

Three massages down, four to go.

Since day 131, I’ve given my intentions for this blog some thought. I’ve asked myself questions like “Why am I doing 365 Acts of Love?” and “What do I hope will result from it?” Here are some answers. For one, I want to express and increase my love for you and that for many reasons, including the betterment of our relationship, the growth of our character, the good of loving you, the glorification of God (which I take to be primary), etc. For another, I want others to be spurred on to love their spouses deeply and to praise God for what he’s doing in our relationship. So maybe this sums up my intentions: I want to express and increase my love for you for our sake and others’ sake, and all this for God’s sake.

But the above is ideal. I’m sure other, less noble intentions creep in. Like what? Well, perhaps I’m doing 365 because I want you to recognize what I do for you. Or maybe, I want to use it as leverage later in our relationship (“Remember I wrote that blog for you? Can’t you do this one thing for me?”). Maybe I’m blogging because I want recognition from others. I hope that none of these motivate me. Frankly, none are worth the effort 365 requires.

I do recognize that I’m prone to some of the above ulterior motives. But that’s part of the reason I keep this blog anonymous.* Sure, I’ve told some friends and family. [Hi, “Danielle” and “Kyle”!]  But for the most part, I’ve kept it a secret.

At any rate, I want my motives for this blog to be good, rather than bad. May God’s grace put and keep me on track.

 

*Disclaimer: I’m not sure I’ll always keep it anonymous.

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Day 131: My Intentions for This Blog

For my act of love last night, I picked something that catered to this blog’s readers rather than you (oopsie). I initially wanted to look for a need of yours to fulfill (see day 107), but decided that I would just ask you what you need. You said you wanted a back massage (surprise, surprise). When you said that, I thought, “If I keep posting on 365 about giving you back massages, I’ll lose reader interest,” then asked, “Is there anything else you need?” “Hmmm . . . how about a back massage,” you replied. “Anything else?” “It would be nice if you held our baby for a while so I could look at pinterest.” “You got it.” Afterwards, you asked if I would give you a foot massage, so I did. If I’m completely honest, my willingness to give you a foot massage was reader driven as well!

This all makes me wonder about my intentions for this blog (what they are, what they were when I started, etc.). Am I primarily interested in expressing and increasing my love for you (haven’t I read that somewhere?) or in gaining followers? I’ve been giving this, as well as some other issues related to my intentions, some thought lately. I believe strongly that I’m doing this blog for you, though at times I act like I’m not.

PS: For your weekly flowers, you’ve lately been asking me to get you potted flowers. Our house is starting to look like a nursery.

UPDATE: Who cares about reader interest. This blog’s for you. My loving acts for the next week will consist in back massages.