Making a Great Marriage by Dating your Spouse
Dating shouldn't stop with marriage.
Too often, married couples get settled, caught up in the routine of jobs, church, parenting, and other commitments.
Many couples are so busy that they don't take time to nurture the foundation of their family - their marriage and their relationship with each other. As we know all too well, when that marriage foundation begins to crumble, everything else comes down with it.
Your marriage is your most important relationship after your relationship with God.
Your marriage needs nurturing.
Like a plant needs water or a car needs an oil change, your marriage needs consistent attention. It needs care and nurture every day;
it needs a special "tune-up" once in a while. You need to reconnect with your spouse. You need to work at your marriage.
Guys, you wouldn't think of ignoring your car for a year at a time, so why do you think your wife can go for days or weeks at a time without attention from you?
Women, you wouldn't think of buying a plant and refusing to water it, so why do you think your husband can go for days or weeks at a time without some of his most important needs being met?
Keeping a marriage together and the romance alive takes time.
It means making one's marriage and spouse a priority and setting aside time for only him or her. In other words, it means planning dates on a regular basis.
Here are a few (4) ideas to get you started (4 more tomorrow):
Take Every Opportunity
Take advantage of any moments you can grab to be together. Is he running to the video store to return the tape? Then go along for the ride. Is she going to the corner store to pick up milk? Go along. Even a few minutes grabbed from the regular rush of life can add up to a lot of time to be together.
Together in the Quiet
The flip side of the "Take Every opportunity" date is this one. Sometimes we need quiet time. Sometimes we need to know the other person is there, but we're in the middle of processing something or devouring a great novel or doing some paper work. A date can consist of two people together doing different things. Don't be afraid to give each other some space.
Make the Mundane Special
Do you both need to attend a political fund-raising dinner? Do you need to go to the quarterly business meeting at church? Maybe you need to renew your driver's licenses. Anything can be an opportunity for a date.
You see, do the thing that has to be done, and then add a little twist. After the meeting, go out for coffee at your favorite place. After you stand in line at the driver's license facility, go get some ice cream.
Anything can be the opportunity for a date if you know how to be creative.
You could make even chore time at home special
- if you're really creative. However, it might be counterproductive for some of you to attempt to make a date out of hanging wallpaper together, so don't try to overdo this one!
Take advantage of an opportunity today. You don't know what tomorrow will bring. Don't wait to begin to work on making a great marriage.
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