Date Night

How sweet is your love, my treasure, my bride! How much better it is than wine!
Your perfume is more fragrant than the richest of spices.
Song of Solomon 4:10

I just finished teaching the sixth commandment in confirmation – you shall not commit adultery.  In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus expands what most people think of when they hear the word adultery, Luther explains the sixth commandment in the following way:

We should fear and love God so that we lead a sexually pure and decent life in what we say and do,
and husband and wife love and honor each other.

For parents, the best gift that you can give your children is to love and honor your spouse.  Usually, one of the things that gets left by the side of the road when the time pressures of careers and raising children and finances and life itself come is dating your spouse.  Below I’m including a list of creative ways that you and your spouse can do date night without spending a ton of money.

ALSO, I think it would be cool if you have additional ideas that you leave them as comments, so we can be encouraging of each other.

Peace!
Pastor David

1. Read a chapter or two from a Christian book on marriage and talk about it over coffee at your favorite coffee shop (I’ve assembled a whole bunch of books on marriage in our online bookstore that I recommend).
2. Swap babysitting with another couple with children and make sure that you and your friends are taking turns monthly to do date night.
3. Go to a park with a lake and walk around the lake – if permitted, feed the ducks together (Desert Breeze Park and
4. Bring a small linen table cloth and candles to your favorite fast food restaurant.  Who cares if people stare – they’ll be secretly jealous!
5. Bring two patio chairs/beach chairs inside the house, play music of ocean sounds (http://www.rhapsody.com/sounds-of-nature/ocean-sounds), serve your favorite beach side drink and talk about what your dream second honeymoon might be like.
6. Pack a picnic lunch/dinner and go to a park
7. Attend a marriage/parenting/financial seminar together
8. Get out your favorite board game/card game to play together
9. Experience a new culture together and go to a Food City or LeLe’s Market and get a dessert to share.  Talk about a foreign country you’d like to visit together.
10. Watch your wedding video/look at your wedding photo album.  Tell your spouse what your remember most about that day.

OK – now it’s your turn!