A Week Of Love

By Tiya Cunningham-Sumter

This past summer Ronnie and Lamar presented the movie screening of “You Saved Me” to Chicago and my Pastor has been stoked ever since. Just a few weeks after the movie screening I was assigned the task of scheduling a date and time for our church family to view and discuss the documentary.  Instead of making it just a one day viewing, I planned a week-long event with the movie being the finale. I chose the week leading up to Sweetest Day, since the majority of us would already be thinking of ways to display love. It was titled the “Week of Love” and it was awesome. The feedback I heard from the other couples was amazing. Because we wanted everyone to feel included we reached out to single people and couples. In my opinion, anyone can benefit from this film; we are all in some sort of relationship. Here is an example of the flyer we shared:

Join us as we celebrate love God’s way. Take this week to practice sharing love with your spouse, significant other and yourself. Then join us in person for the screening of the documentary, “You Saved Me”.  It is a positive image of black marriage, and explores marriage’s trials, changes, successes, and ultimately the individual healing that comes out of true love and commitment. Created by the creators of Blackandmarriedwithkids.com Following the movie will be a discussion about the week of love’s events as well as the film. Please come out and be a blessed by this film.

Before you join us in person, join us (on your own) in practicing love in your relationships by:

Day 1 (Monday October 11^th):

Using Words of Love: uplift and encourage your (spouse or yourself) with only positive words that demonstrate love.

Day 2 (Tuesday, October 12^th):

Using Acts of Love: Do something special and unexpected for your (spouse or yourself).

Day 3 (Wednesday, October 13^th):

Praying Together: Take sometime to pray over your relationships and one another. Share scriptures that can encourage you in your partnership.

Day 4 (Thursday, October 14^th):

Planning for The Future: Create a plan for success in your relationship. Design a mission plan. What you want, what you don’t want for your (spouse or yourself).

Day 5 (Friday, October 15^th):

Join Family of Faith’s Movie & Discussion Night: Viewing the Screening of the Documentary “You Saved Me”.

What I enjoyed hearing the most were about days 2 through 4. Many of the couples found very creative ways to show love. It was more than buying flyers or giving a card. It was well thought out acts of love, which required energy, thoughtfulness and love. It’s easy to pray for one another, but making time to sit, hold hands and pray together over our marriage and family is not done often enough in many households. Day 4 was a big one in my home. Creating a success plan for our marriage revealed so much for my husband and me. We were able to have an honest heart to heart about what we both needed and wanted. The event was scheduled for only one week, but based on all the positive results received, the impact will last a lifetime.

BMWK, what would you add to this week of love list?

Tiya Cunningham-Sumter is a Certified Life & Relationship Coach, Founder of Life Editing and creator of The Black Wives’ Club. Tiya was featured in Ebony Magazine in the October 2008 and November 2010 issues. She resides in Chicago with her husband and two children.

About the author

Tiya Cunningham-Sumter is a Certified Life & Relationship Coach, Founder of Life Editing. Tiya was featured in Ebony Magazine in the October 2008 and November 2010 issues. Tiya recently created and launched (Tuesdays with Tiya) Life Editing Radio show on blogtalkradio.com. She resides in Chicago with her husband and two children.

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