Surprise or No Surprise?

Mark: One of the ways Jill and I are different has to do with surprises. I love surprises. Jill….not so much.

Jill: If you’ve taken our free No More Perfect Marriages E-Challenge, you’ll take a quiz that helps you determine if you’re spontaneous or structured.  Mark is spontaneous and I am structured. Often folks who are spontaneous love surprises and folks that are structured do not like surprises.

Mark: This is important to understand. If you’re spontaneous and think a surprise birthday party would be a great gift for your structured spouse, you might stop and think again!

Jill: At the same time, if you don’t like surprises but your spouse does like them, you need to step out of your box and make surprises happen!  That’s what I did this past weekend.

Mark: Jill was speaking in St. Louis until Saturday afternoon. We had decided that we would take a little 24 hour getaway in the area before we returned home Sunday night. Jill said she’d explore possibilities and find something.

Jill: After asking Facebook friends for ideas of places to go, I learned about Pere Marquette State Park in Grafton, IL.  It looked like a great place to explore so I decided to search for AirBnb’s in the general area. I ran across a unique place to stay: a 1960’s Shasta camper on the banks of the Mississippi River.

Mark: I love to camp. I particularly love to camp on water, however, our camper that I inherited from my dad bit the dust several years ago.

Jill: I don’t particularly enjoy camping. We live in the middle of the country where it’s quiet and private. Honestly when you camp, you’re often in campgrounds right on top of other campers. It’s like living in a busy neighborhood which I don’t find relaxing at all.  But when I saw this unique place, I thought, “THIS IS IT! MARK WILL LOVE THIS!”

Mark: Jill said that she found a place, but it was a surprise. I thought that was great and I couldn’t wait to see what it was.

Jill: When we arrived, Mark was soooooo surprised and so blessed! This was exactly the setting he loves and hadn’t had in years.  And honestly, I found it very relaxing because the campsites were secluded away from other campers.

Mark: I loved it! I loved that Jill knew me so well. I knew that she did something out of her comfort zone. And I loved that she surprised me!

Jill: Do you know if your spouse likes surprises or not?  If you don’t, then have the conversation today! Talk about it and discover something new about it each other.