I spent the weekend standing up in the wedding of two dear friends. During the homily, the priest enumerated 10 marriage tips, one of which included blessing each other when they went to bed and when they rose in the morning.

He demonstrated: you take your thumb, and trace a cross on your spouse’s forward — one stroke down, one stroke sideways. “I bless you.”

I’ve adopted this as another way to show physical and verbal affection to Erich. Before he falls asleep, I’ll kiss him goodnight and bless him. Before he goes off to work, I’ll peek out from under the covers (6:30 is too early for me), reach for his forehead, and murmur, “I bless you. I love you,” before rolling over and sleeping in till a decent hour.

I love the depth of “I bless you.” I love using the symbol of the greatest love. It reaches a different parts of our souls, blessing one another. And if I have kids, I want to incorporate this into our good mornings and good nights too. We all need blessing!

Do you have a specific way of blessing your husband?

// More love habits to form