Date Night
In December 2010, some mutual friends of ours came up with an idea to go on a group date. My love language is "quality time", so alone time with Chad is like liquid oxygen to our marriage - it's a MUST. HAVE. Honestly, I wasn't sure if it'd be as beneficial to our marriage relationship if our time was distracted by other men and women, but I knew we'd have a good time, so we set a date and went.
I clearly remember the first restaraunt we went to last December...I remember sitting around the table, with a sparkle in my eye and thinking to myself "omigosh, why didn't we try this sooner???". We saw each other in a new light - a more light hearted side came out of ALL of us and by the end of the night, my face hurt from smiling so much! That night we knew, this HAD to be a tradition!
So,a month in advance, we start researching places to go...we book our babysitters and begin planning out our wardrobe (you can bet it won't consist of sweats, tennis shoes or ponytails!). We pick a fun restaraunt we've never been to, and go spend an insane amount of money while we laugh so hard that we cry - literally, the day after "date night" I am almost guaranteed to have sore abs.
It's a night of rekindling the romance in our marriages, of remembering that we married our best friends. It's a night of private jokes and laughter...it's comfortable and exciting. In one word, it's a JOY! These couples have become a life line...they have become a part of the liguid oxygen that strengthens our marriage. They have become like family to us.
The morning after, it's back to the busyness of life....dressing the kiddo's for church, rushing around getting breakfast while we frantically sip our coffee...it's back to disciplining, teaching, instructing, cleaning, chauffering, nursing,... selflessly loving.
But for that one night, we can be "19 again"...we can finish a conversation and a meal without interruptions...we can enjoy the company of dear friends and laugh our hearts out over a glass of wine. For that one night, we can remember how truly RIGHT we are for one another, and how blessed we are to have friends who accept us for who we are, quirks-n-all!
I hope the tradition of Date Night continue's! I hope our children see us setting aside time for ourselves and our friends and that they will follow our example when they're grown and married! And I hope that each person who reads this will be motivated to start your own date night - whether it's McDonald's or Season's 52, I promise you - it will make a difference in your marriage and in your life!
Chad, Kyle, Ben and Jeff
Laura, Shannon, Lindsey, Jennifer
In December 2010, some mutual friends of ours came up with an idea to go on a group date. My love language is "quality time", so alone time with Chad is like liquid oxygen to our marriage - it's a MUST. HAVE. Honestly, I wasn't sure if it'd be as beneficial to our marriage relationship if our time was distracted by other men and women, but I knew we'd have a good time, so we set a date and went.
I clearly remember the first restaraunt we went to last December...I remember sitting around the table, with a sparkle in my eye and thinking to myself "omigosh, why didn't we try this sooner???". We saw each other in a new light - a more light hearted side came out of ALL of us and by the end of the night, my face hurt from smiling so much! That night we knew, this HAD to be a tradition!
So,a month in advance, we start researching places to go...we book our babysitters and begin planning out our wardrobe (you can bet it won't consist of sweats, tennis shoes or ponytails!). We pick a fun restaraunt we've never been to, and go spend an insane amount of money while we laugh so hard that we cry - literally, the day after "date night" I am almost guaranteed to have sore abs.
It's a night of rekindling the romance in our marriages, of remembering that we married our best friends. It's a night of private jokes and laughter...it's comfortable and exciting. In one word, it's a JOY! These couples have become a life line...they have become a part of the liguid oxygen that strengthens our marriage. They have become like family to us.
The morning after, it's back to the busyness of life....dressing the kiddo's for church, rushing around getting breakfast while we frantically sip our coffee...it's back to disciplining, teaching, instructing, cleaning, chauffering, nursing,... selflessly loving.
But for that one night, we can be "19 again"...we can finish a conversation and a meal without interruptions...we can enjoy the company of dear friends and laugh our hearts out over a glass of wine. For that one night, we can remember how truly RIGHT we are for one another, and how blessed we are to have friends who accept us for who we are, quirks-n-all!
I hope the tradition of Date Night continue's! I hope our children see us setting aside time for ourselves and our friends and that they will follow our example when they're grown and married! And I hope that each person who reads this will be motivated to start your own date night - whether it's McDonald's or Season's 52, I promise you - it will make a difference in your marriage and in your life!
Chad, Kyle, Ben and Jeff
Laura, Shannon, Lindsey, Jennifer
1 comment:
Great tradition! Having fun with friends and maintaining good relationships is so good and healthy for all your relationships, plus adding excitement and "look forward-to-ness" for all who are blessed through participating! Thanks for sharing. This is something we can all do - having fun with each other - returning to the roots of why we were attracted to our spouses in the first place! Good blog Linds!
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