52 Ways to Wow Your Husband: How to Put a Smile on His Face

By Pam Farrel

With the same candor and creativity that made Men Are Life Waffles—Women Are Like Spaghetti (more than 270,000 copies sold) a bestseller, author Pam Farrel gives wives 52 ways to wow their husbands and add spark to their marriages. Pam delivers humor in her fun woman-to-woman style through inspirational stories, godly advice, and easy-to-read offerings that include:

• wow assignments: simple ways to support, love, and encourage husbands
• wow wisdom: Bible verses and wisdom to help women cover their spouse with prayer
• wow dates: creative ideas for everything from shared meals to weekend getaways

Newlyweds, married with kids, or empty nesters will appreciate these ideas crafted for the busy life. A woman can try one idea a week for a year or take on a few at a time to deepen her spiritual, emotional, and physical bond with her loved one.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Harvest House Publishers
• Release date: Aug 1, 2011
• ISBN: 9780736941945

Pam Farrel

Pam Farrel and her husband, Bill, are the authors of 59 books including Men Are Like Waffles—Women Are Like Spaghetti (more than 350,000 copies sold) and Red-Hot Monogamy. In addition, Pam has written 52 Ways to Wow Your Husband and 7 Simple Skills for Every Woman: Success in Keeping It All Together. They are cofounders and codirectors of Love-Wise, an organization to help people connect love and wisdom and bring practical insights to their personal relationships. The Farrels live in California and enjoy spending time with their 3 sons, 3 daughters-in-law and many energetic grandkids. www.Love-Wise.com

Book preview

face!

The Recharger Box

What a man finds romantic is a woman who will lower his stress! In Men Are Like Waffles—Women Are Like Spaghetti, I explain that men go to their favorite easy boxes to rest and recharge. God helped us women recognize these easy boxes in that most of them are shaped like boxes—the TV screen, the newspaper, the garage, the Xbox, the computer screen, the football field, the baseball diamond, the basketball court, the refrigerator, and the bed. The bed box (also known as the sex box) is a husband’s favorite box to go to when he is stressed out. This box or square is kind of like the center square on a bingo card, and a man can get to that box from every other square on his waffle.

Wow Assignment

Find out your man’s favorite easy box he goes to for recharging. Here are some ways to discover this vital information:

• If given thirty minutes of dead time, what does he do?

• If he were given a day off, where would he like to go?

• What does he do now when stressed?

• What does he watch on TV when relaxing? (Sports? Movies? Adventures? Fix-it shows?)

Kendra Smiley and her husband, John, wrote Do Your Kids a Favor... Love Your Spouse. John was wowed unexpectedly by Kendra with his all-time favorite box:

I’ve been a Green Bay Packers fan for years and transferred that enthusiasm to our three teenage sons. I never imagined I would actually be able to see a game at Lambeau Field because legend has it that the only way to get tickets is to inherit them when someone dies. But legends don’t stop Kendra! She called the ticket office, asking about the purchase of five tickets for the last home game of the season. After the laughter died down (I guess there was some truth to the legend), they referred her to an agency offering Weekend Packages. She knew we couldn’t afford all the extras of a package, and somehow she managed to convince the woman at that office to simply sell her five tickets. She gave me a gift that took her time, her effort, and a little bit of her charming persuasion. What a great model for our kids!

Wow Wisdom

Pray and thank God for your husband. Often we women push, push, push our spouse to be more productive or work on our honey-do list even on his day off. If you keep pushing, he might begin to see you as a mother or a boss, not a wife and lover. A husband who gets pushed to do too many things he doesn’t enjoy will exhaust himself emotionally and grow distant from his wife. Think about how much better your life is when you are connected with your lover!

Instead of resenting your waffleman for needing to recharge, thank God he has a box to recharge in so he can maintain the energy to keep up with you! As Paul reminds us, In everything give thanks (1 Thessalonians 5:18 NASB).

Wow Date

Make him breakfast in bed and serve waffles. Give him a note for one free day off to do whatever he wants—to enjoy his favorite waffle box(es). Include a gift card for something that helps him recharge. While you’re there in bed, why not enjoy some bingo? Remember, for most men, bingo is the number one recharger box.

Say Yes

Ginger Kolbaba, editor of the online magazine Kyria, offers the following great insight:

No, no way, my mind screamed. But then I did something insane. I looked into my husband’s eyes. So he didn’t think through all the logistics; he had tried to do something good, something fun for us as a couple. And I had the power to cut him down, crush his excitement, to penalize him for the adventure he’d tried to bring to our relationship. And that’s when I learned an important marriage lesson. Sometimes it is better to say yes, even when you want to, even when you are justified to say no. Frankly, it is about the good of the marriage, not only about the individuals who make up that marriage...My first instinct was to say no...But the grace of God got through my thick skull and reminded me of the importance of saying yes.¹

Wow Assignment

This week, try to say yes as much as you possibly can to your husband. If what he asks you to do is not immoral, illegal, or life-threatening, say yes. Give it a wholehearted, enthusiastic yes!

Wow Wisdom

Here’s the trick. You might have been saying no for so long, your husband is afraid to ask anything of you anymore. He might be so withdrawn from your predictable no answers that he doesn’t even make a request or an invitation. If this is the case, you might offer a yes. For example, Honey, you know how you asked me over and over to go deep-sea fishing with you? Well, I want you know that if you asked again, I’d say yes. In fact, I have the boat captain’s number right here, and I have this Saturday free if you want to go right away. No pressure, I just wanted you to know. Then give a kiss, slide the number into his front pants pocket, and leave the room. If you flirt a little, your yes will seem more believable.

Wow Date

Jump-start the new yes atmosphere of your marriage by planning a date full of yeses. Do a few things your husband loves that you have said no to in the past. Go running with him, go to the gym with him, go to the hardware store with him. Say yes to that fast car or ski boat (rent one just for a day!). Be his friend, his buddy, his pal, his lover, and revel in saying yes to his ideas all through the date.

New Attitude

Mom was worried that her twin boys, age six, had developed extreme personalities—one was a total pessimist, the other a total optimist. So she took them to a psychiatrist.

First the psychiatrist treated the pessimist. Trying to brighten his outlook, the psychiatrist took him to a room piled to the ceiling with brand-new toys. But instead of yelping with delight, the little boy burst into tears.

What’s the matter? the psychiatrist asked, baffled. Don’t you want to play with any of the toys?

Yes, the little boy bawled, but if I did, I’d only break them.

Next the psychiatrist treated the optimist. Trying to dampen his outlook, the psychiatrist took him to a room piled to the ceiling with horse manure. But instead of wrinkling his nose in disgust, the optimist emitted a yelp of delight. He dropped to his knees and began gleefully digging out scoop after scoop with his bare hands.

What do you think you’re doing? the psychiatrist asked.

With all this manure, the little boy replied, beaming, there must be a pony in here somewhere.²

Wow Assignment

Are you feeling blue? Acknowledge that depression can weigh heavy on a marriage. One husband cornered me in the lobby after church and said, I don’t know what to do. My wife is just so sad all the time. I’ve tried everything! I am so exhausted. I’m holding her up, the housework, my job, the kids. I can’t keep going this way.

The first step in wowing your man might be to own that you are depressed and need to take action to improve your own mental and emotional wellness.

Wow Wisdom

My friend K!mberly is a missionary in Singapore. She and her husband, James, have faithfully served the people of the Pacific Rim for over twenty years. K!mberly is fluent in Mandarin. They have lived and worked overseas, far from their very American upbringing, for most of her adult life.

But K!mberly, as any woman might, missed home. In 2001 she hit a wall of depression so strong she sought medical help. During this time, with a diagnosis of a chronic low serotonin level, she decided for the sake of herself, her marriage, and her family that she needed to reclaim her happiness.

K!mberly had heard my message Choosin’ Joy during the year she was turning forty. She chose to replace the i in her name with an exclamation mark, so each time she wrote her name she would remember God is the ! (the excitement in life). She wanted a daily reminder that there is much more to look forward to. James has benefited greatly from the !.

Be proactive with your emotional health. See a doctor, exercise, pray this verse as a reminder that God is your !:

But You, LORD, are a shield around me,

my glory, the One who lifts my head high.

(Psalm 3:3)

Wow Date

Create a marker, like the exclamation point in K!mberly’s name. Choose something that will remind you that God can and will be the One who can give back your hope and joy. Make it personal, such as a letter in your name or a new signature. Or get a ring or bracelet you see consistently. It can also be a screen saver, a ringtone, or a poster—something you see or hear

Reviews for 52 Ways to Wow Your Husband

[beautyinthebinding · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A woman knows what she finds romantic, but ask her what her husband finds romantic (other than sex) and she might need a little time to think of an answer. Even a woman who has been married many years may occasionally find that she needs an idea about how to put that special spark into the relationship. In 52 Ways to Wow Your Husband, Pam Farrell, who has been a wife for over 31 years, shows wives how they can connect with and “wow” their husbands. As this book is meant to be done over a year's time (one a week), I obviously did not have the time to test out all the ideas in this book before reviewing it. However, I can tell you that the few that I did were highly successful at “wowing” my husband and making him smile. :) The ideas range in complexity and cost. Some of them are freebies that you can do and some of them require substantial spending. The nice thing is that you don't have to go in any sort of order. You can pick and choose which ones to do and when to do them. Pam Farrell's tone in 52 Ways to Wow Your Husband, is kind and humorous which makes for an quick and enjoyable read that is sure to enhance any marriage relationship.Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher as part of FIRST Wild Card Tours. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

[staciele · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I found this book very enjoyable and intriguing. This book is for the Christian wife who wants to show her husband her love and devotion for him. Maybe a new spark is needed. Maybe both husband and wife are falling into those bad habits of routinely "doing their own thing" and not involving each other into their lives. Maybe you have even started to forget why you fell in love in the first place. This book is for the wife who wants to change all that or just remind her husband that she is still "in love" with him. This book encompasses stories, prayers, devotions, and "Wow" ideas to kick-start your marriage again. The book is planned out for one "Wow Idea" each week, which is very manageable, but you can certainly pick your favorites to implement at any time. The ideas range from the very simple (making his favorite breakfast in bed) to the more in depth ( planning a "courageous" date that may be out of your box, but exciting for him).Even though I believe my marriage is very solid and happy, I have no doubt these ideas could create a spark in our relationship. I have a few ideas up my sleeve and plan to spring them on my husband in the near future. This book reminds you of why you fell in love with your husband in the first place and celebrates that. It also reminded me of the need to pray for my husband daily. I know that I have been neglecting that aspect of our marriage and this book shows you how to do just that. How can you go wrong planning surprises for your husband and praying for him daily?I received an e-book copy for review from Netgalley.

[twinmom_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

About the Book:If you are looking for a way to spice up your romance to your husband and become closer to him in a spiritual, physical or emotional way, pick up this book. Pam Farrel connects to her audience in a very easy to read, and understand style. There are some great inspirational stories as well as assignments to keep you busy all year long.My take:I will definitely be buying this book as soon as my local Christian bookstore gets it in...or they will be ordering it for me. There were 52 reasons to get this book. The things that I have done so far have definitely made him notice! The ideas range from easy to complex, from free to costs a bit. There is no set order, and I can see some of these ideas lasting a little longer than a week, so this book (if I can keep it hidden) will last for awhile. We have been married for 19 years and with five kids, we have started to take each other for granted....this book came along at a great time to help spice up our time together. Even if you have only been married a short time this would be a great addition to your library to help you get to know your husband better. The chapters are set up with wow assignments, wow wisdom and wow dates. Perfect addition to your devotion time as the chapters are quick and to the point.About the Author:The author and her husband have written over 26 books, mostly about marriage and Christian growth. They are the parents of 3 active children, ages 20 to 26 and have been working with couples their entire adult life. To relax, Pam and Bill enjoy cheering for their sons at sporting events, reading, and exercising together...especially when it consists of kayaking or a long walk at the beach. They speak frequently at seminars and you can find them and a ton of good advice on their love-wise site.7 thumbs up!I was given a copy of this book by the publisher through Netgalley for my honest review. No other compensation was given and I was not required to give a positive review.

[kherbrand_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I have been reading this book for the last week, while trying to keep it hidden from my husband, which I was able to do successfully. Then tonight, I sit down to write this post with the book beside me and my husband comes over and picks it up and says "Have you read this yet?" with a big smile. He then told me I wow him everyday . . :) I just couldn't believe that after I had hid it all week he see's it tonight! But anyway - let me tell you about the book.This book has 52 chapters - (52 weeks) - with a different idea for something special you can do to "wow" your husband. You can get a better idea of this by reading the first chapter below. For me, the book just opened my eyes to how little I know about certain areas of my husband's life. I remember doing all sorts of fun stuff outside the house before our youngest son came along and how quickly our together time has been squashed for family time. Family time is important - but we need to be strong together before we can be strong together as a family. I am going to be spending the next few weeks really paying attention to what my husband does in his free time, what he does to relax, what some of his favorites are - and then I am going to be preparing some "wow" dates. I have already started devising some things I can do in October - as that is the month that we started dating. This book definitely has the ability to draw us closer together, and I am looking forward to it!