Dave and I were recently discussing our date nights....wait a minute? What date nights? Oh they happened every now and again but most date nights were really just us laying on the couch watching reruns of our favorite TV show on Netflix This isn't bad, but I can't say it was really us being intentional on nurturing our marriage. Every couple is different so please don't think that our recipe is the recipe for everyone but I do encourage you to discuss and pray with your spouse on specifics for your marriage? What do you need to do to connect with one another on a regular basis? What would help you grow more closely together? For us we decided that we wanted a Friday Night Date Night. Now we have a small child so how does that work? Well we are blessed to have a pair of grandparents down the street, and in other times of our marriage we have swapped date nights with people in our small group which worked out great also. Oh and you also have to remember...I didn't say every Friday night would be spent on a date outside of our home....nope! We decided we wanted to have 2 date nights outside of the home a month and 2 date nights in (if we can swing it but at least one date outside of the home!). Abbie goes to bed at 7 so that means we can have our own date night after she goes to bed even when we are home! So for last Fridays Date Night we chose to build a fire in the fireplace, treat ourselves to some French Press coffee and play chess (new secret about me I'm kind of a nerd at heart or maybe my husband turned me into one....before him I'd never even watched Star Wars or Lord of the Rings.
Two opposing sides: I will say I was white (the more angelic of the two of us...ha!)
I proudly can say that I won. That rarely happens. Dave typically is pretty good at chess!
Our date was delightful and fun and intentional, and so needed.
Would you join us friends? Would you challenge yourselves to pray together about what being intentional in your own marriages means and then do it?
Dating after having children is especially hard and you just have to make it a priority. Our marriages are so important, even more important than being a mother or father to our child...so we must keep it a priority.
So now....go pray! And please share with the rest of us what you and your spouse decide, cause I'm sure it could be an encouragement to so many others!
Do you have any favorite date night ideas for in your home or outside of your home??
Blessings,
