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I'm at a place right now where I'm putting the pause in menopause. My drive has all but stopped, and stopped to such a degree I saw my doctor. Other things are going on and the pause actually is a wise choice right now. Yet physical touch is important to marriage. This season in my life reminded me of the years we were participants with Natural Family Planning.
Natural Family Planning or NFP is a method where I learned with a tissue wipe how cervical mucus led to a day where we could have intercourse to plan for a family or abstain as our choice not to practice fertility. It takes training and doctor supervision but there are a series of days where if you don't want to have a pregnancy, you need to abstain. Those "white" days as my husband and I called them were a pause...to a point. Thankfully NFP had a plan for those white abstaining days.
SPICE is their acronym for the days where couples chose to abstain but still maintain touch and love between each other. Spice stands for Spiritual, Physical, Intellectual, Creative and Emotional communication. During the days where for whatever reason you can't enjoy lovemaking connect spiritually. Perhaps add more time praying together or pray together as something new between you. Maybe go through a marriage book together.
Physical ideas are non sexual ways to connect as a couple. Possible suggestions include a backrub, a movie night where you can hold hands, falling asleep in each other's arms.
Intellectual takes the things you have in common with your spouse. Perhaps you have sports or board games you like to play. Maybe you want to attend a play. A "SPICE" season is an excellent time to communicate your common interests and enjoy them.
Creative Communication gives you the time to tackle projects together you otherwise don't have time to do. A zoo trip, antiquing, flea markets...these are a few creative activities to try.
Emotional lends opportunity to share feelings. I was guilty of waiting on sharing for the perfect time. Implementing SPICE into my life helped me put feelings on the front burner.
There are going to be seasons for whatever reasons you need to abstain from relations. Try to make the most of it by enhancing other areas the two of you should share together. In no time you'll be able to spice things up in the bedroom.
Enjoy!
For more information on Natural Family Planning, start here.
I found additional information for this post here.
Read The Surrendered Scribe Blog Cyber Shout Outs
Natural Family Planning or NFP is a method where I learned with a tissue wipe how cervical mucus led to a day where we could have intercourse to plan for a family or abstain as our choice not to practice fertility. It takes training and doctor supervision but there are a series of days where if you don't want to have a pregnancy, you need to abstain. Those "white" days as my husband and I called them were a pause...to a point. Thankfully NFP had a plan for those white abstaining days.
SPICE is their acronym for the days where couples chose to abstain but still maintain touch and love between each other. Spice stands for Spiritual, Physical, Intellectual, Creative and Emotional communication. During the days where for whatever reason you can't enjoy lovemaking connect spiritually. Perhaps add more time praying together or pray together as something new between you. Maybe go through a marriage book together.
Physical ideas are non sexual ways to connect as a couple. Possible suggestions include a backrub, a movie night where you can hold hands, falling asleep in each other's arms.
Intellectual takes the things you have in common with your spouse. Perhaps you have sports or board games you like to play. Maybe you want to attend a play. A "SPICE" season is an excellent time to communicate your common interests and enjoy them.
Creative Communication gives you the time to tackle projects together you otherwise don't have time to do. A zoo trip, antiquing, flea markets...these are a few creative activities to try.
Emotional lends opportunity to share feelings. I was guilty of waiting on sharing for the perfect time. Implementing SPICE into my life helped me put feelings on the front burner.
There are going to be seasons for whatever reasons you need to abstain from relations. Try to make the most of it by enhancing other areas the two of you should share together. In no time you'll be able to spice things up in the bedroom.
Enjoy!
For more information on Natural Family Planning, start here.
I found additional information for this post here.
Surrendering the good, the bad, and---maybe one day---the chocolate
2 Zesters spoke up:
I love this idea! Thanks for sharing the SPICE~
Jennifer
What a great acronym and reminder of the other elements that need to be nurtured regularly. Thanks!
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