Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Spice up Your Marriage with 50 Great Date Ideas

1. Sketch your dream-house floor plan and talk about the possibilities of each room.
2. Write the story of how you met. Get it printed and bound.
3. List your spouse’s best qualities in alphabetic order.
4. Tour a museum or art gallery (Admission is free to the USAF Museum in Dayton).
5. Kiss and hug in the dark while watching for the International Space Station to make its daily visible pass over Ohio.
6. Attend a fall festival together.
7. Take a stroll around the block - hold hands as you walk.
8. Spend a night together at the Quaker Hill Conference Center Solitude Room.
9. Give your spouse a back rub.
10. Rent a classic love story video, microwave some popcorn and watch the video while cuddling.
11. Build a fire in the fireplace, turn out the lights, cuddle and talk.
12. Take a shower together.
13. Go swimming in the middle of the night.
14. Write a poem for your spouse.
15. Remember to look in your spouse’s eyes as he/she tells you about the day.
16. Walk the mall together with the goal of not to buy, but to test perfume and cologne along the way.
17. Hug your spouse from behind and give him/her a kiss on the back of the neck.
18. Stop in the middle of your busy day and talk to your spouse for 15 minutes.
19. Take a free tour of a local factory. Available tours range from candy factories to a motorcyclemanufacturing plant.
20. Do something your spouse loves to do, even though it doesn’t interest you personally.
21. Send your spouse a love letter.
22. Build a snowman together.
23. Watch a sunrise or sunset together.
24 Sit on the same side of a restaurant booth.
25. Picnic by a pond.
26. Give your mate a foot massage.
27. Put together a puzzle on a rainy evening.
28. Take a bike ride on one of the Ohio bike paths.
29. On a hot summer day, wash the car together, with the intent of splashing each other with water.
30. Whisper something romantic to your spouse in a crowded room.
31. Have a candlelight picnic in the back yard.
32. Perfume the bedsheets.
33. Serve breakfast in bed.
34. Reminisce through old photo albums.
35. Have coffee together at a coffee shop.
36. Share a milkshake with two straws.
37. Kiss in the rain.
38. Brush his/her hair.
39. Ride the merry-go-round together.
40. Dedicate a song to him/her over the radio.
41. On your anniversary, renew your wedding vows with family and friends.
42. Have a hot bubble bath ready for him/her at the end of a long day.
43. Buy new satin sheets.
44. Tenderly touch your spouse as you pass one another around the house.
45. Reminisce about your first date.
46. Plant a tree together in honor of your marriage.
47. Raid the kids' toy chest and go kite flying.
48. Attend a sporting event you’ve never been to together.
49. Take time to think about him/her during the day, then share those thoughts.
50. Create your own special holiday.

-From Focus on the Family

Thursday, May 17, 2007

Mission Possible!

Is this some cruel joke, or is it possible for husbands to understand their wives? The answer is yes! If God commands husbands to understand their wives (I Pet. 3:7), then we know it is possible. I am amazed at how strong this longing is in women, and how much men seem to struggle to do it.

Husbands, I think it starts with a commitment to try. Make it your daily prayer, "God help me to understand my wife." Schedule "alone time" together. I believe that time together is a prerequisite to husbands understanding their wives. We won't get to know our wives intimately with a mini van full of kids on the way to a ball game.

Wives, what are some helpful ideas you could share with husbands that would help them work at understanding you? Men, what are some things you have done that have worked effectively?

Send me an email with your thoughts. lkaufman@wifi7.com

Larry