What do you do with your spouse for 'date night'?

Good question BrianMira.

We live in a town of about 40,000 and do not have all that would be available in a large city.
We have come to enjoy, usually on Friday night, to treat ourselves to dinner out and then usually will go to Barnes & Noble where we will sit and look at books. We occasionally meet friends there, which we did last night and have now set up dinner with them in the very near future. Occasionally also, when we do meet up with friends there, we might go out for desert after our time at Barnes & Noble.

That may not sound exciting, but we are over 50 and seem to be enjoying reconnecting with old friends. We have raised our kids and now have more time to do so.

This is a very good practical question. I hope you get good responses. I started a similar thread a few days ago asking people to briefly describe how God is using them. Mine is nothing organized. Much one on one. I enjoy writing, which again I am able to use in a one on one way through letters and emails.

I, like you, thought it would be good personally to see the many different ways God is using people, and for others to see it as well. The thread is in General Topics and is called 'your ministry'. If you have anything to contribute there, I would be interested in what you have to post.

Good luck with your thread and your date life.

My DH is a home-body so date night for us consists of snuggling and watching a family movie [of my choosing], healthy snacks and putting our little man to bed.

Hey there...

Our "date nights" usually consist of something entirely spontaneous and include activities that are not the same with each week. I sometimes will take her to a place that we haven't been before...to eat...to just sit and talk...or to see the sunset...or to just remind us about what we like in one another.

I've seen so many after marriage that they often fail to remember the things that they do. It is nice to be alone with my wife and provide acts that display that love. Of course, I would be quite attentive to the things that she wants to do. For example: There is no point in taking her to ride roller coasters if she has motion sickness (silly example); Don't take her to Red Lobster if she doesn't like seafood. You know what I mean?

I think that the purpose of taking your wife "out" is to reaffirm your love for her...in her presence. The most exciting part of such outtings is not what we do...but the fact that we are together, getting closer, while doing those things.

:-)

3 kids under 5 and a fourth on the way.

Ask me in 10 years. :-) :-) :-)

My wife & I will skip dinner with the kids. And after they go to bed, we'll order a pizza. We sit & talk while eat our pizza together. Sometime we'll watch a movie also.

My wife always tells me, "It's the quality of time and not the quantity of time that we spend together."

So I try to as often as I can to spend a little time with her.

He who finds a wife finds a good thing, (Proverbs 18:22)

I'd like to commend all you married folks for trying to still have a "date night." For one thing that grieves my heart is to have heard that A.W. Tozer's widow, who later remarried, exclaimed that she "finally had a husband." As great as Tozer was, and as much as we cherish the great things he left the church, I think this is a sad blemish on his life.

Romance, sadly, has often not been looked at by the Church as something that is spiritual. Indeed, there are few activities that are as spiritual as romancing your spouse. Sadly, the Song of Solomon has been allegorized away or simply ignored. Likewise, proverbs does command us to "cherish [rejoice!] the wife of your youth."

An old saint once told me to never stop pursuing your wife once you get married. Pursue her (or him) until the day you die. Granted, I am not married yet, but, I plan heed the advice of my older brother once I am.

I appreciate this refreshingly simple thread. (It's a pleasant change from threads that discuss things we have no control over.)

My wife, pretty, cheery, energetic, positive, selfless, practical, and convinced I'm Mr. Wonderful, is just a very easy person to be around. For fifteen years we've happily made it a point to go out up to twice a week---once for ourselves, and once with different people. Our personal dates almost always involve some time at a restaurant, and occasionally involves an over night at a hotel. We enjoy talking for hours, and the time always goes by too fast.

As a special side note, my time with my wife is enhanced greatly when I make dates with the kids. I try to make a regular habit of breakfast or dinner dates with each of them individually throughout the week. I live in a little country community but there is a pizza shop a block down the street that each of the kids enjoy the opportunity walk to and sit with dad after their homework is vanquished. Some weeks we are less successful at finding the time for our dates due to the notorious over-scheduling that is typical of modern life. In those weeks we are are at least inclined to fit in some kind of venture together. (One activity we recently started is going to a local open mic night and building relationships with people in our town.)

We live in a cozy house, in a cozy burg, so being cozy around each other is very natural here in the Compton household. I attribute our current happy situation to God's wise afflictions in not giving me the things I wanted when I was younger...he was already preparing for me the things I am thankful for in my 40's when I was yet in my 20's.

And remember men, if you want to sustain romance with your wife, then take your children out for dates and watch the little hearts float out of her when she looks at you. ;-)

Blessings all,

MC

[b]Testimony[/b]

Yesterday was our wedding fifteenth anniversary.

Not having a lot on money, we went to a new pizza place. We had pizza & salad.

Sitting near us was another couple with their daughter (about three yrs old). The daughter kept looking at my wife, which created conversation between us & the other couple.

We told them it was our anniversary & that we have 6 children. The wife said that she was 1 of 6 children, but her parents never went out like we (my wife & I) were.

Anyway, they wished us a happy anniversary and left. My wife & I finished our meal and it came time to pay the bill.

Then our waitress told us that our billed was paid by the other couple. Thank you Jesus! He is so awesome!

[i][b]And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Now to our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.[/b][/i] Phil 4:19-20

BrianMira wrote:

two things concern me.

The first is the lack of responses.

I liked your thread and I think I was the first one to respond to it. It deals with real life and was refreshing to think on things that aren't so deep for a change.

'krispykritter' (not sure of the spelling) had one on economic woahs that I felt the same way about. I enjoyed the responses to it.

I had one that I had hoped to see more responses to that I called 'your ministry' where I wanted people to briefly describe the ministry they are involved in. I thought it would be interesting and helpful to see the different ways God uses His people. Not many responded to it. It is in General Topics if it interest you to do so.

I have not been on the site long, but I have learned, as eager as we all are to see if anyone responds to our thoughts, you almost have to face ahead of time the possibility that no one will. It is really no reflection of the quality or lack there of of what we have said. There is just so much that goes through here, it is hard to give it all its due.

One of the lighter things I have posted was a couple of days ago called 'hospitable friends - God's gift to us'. I felt as good about the thought as any I had posted. Only one couple responded to it but it seemed very genuine. I really appreciated what they had to say.

I am learning to post less, keep it positive and just make sure before I submit, that I should. After that, it is the Lord's to do with what He pleases.