The following 2-part guest series is contributed by Jake Waits. He has some great ideas for romancing your spouse and keeping your marriage alive throughout the demands and pressures of ministry. Oh, and you men, remember Valentines Day is a little over a week away!
Share your stories!
Okay, so I have been skewering the web and local Christian bookstores over the past few months for ANY creative and fun ideas for dates with my wife. It has been a lot of fun coming up with anything that I can do to surprise my wife on our random dates. If you are like me, you may have discovered that there may be a few dating ideas here and there on the web, but I got to thinking about how this concept could be a lot more effective if others posted ideas on a site. I found several sites that did this but they were not Christian sites and the ideas were a bit pricey! If you are like me, you are on a budget right now but you still want to impress your significant other when it comes to planning your dates. If we all pitched in ideas from time to time, this would help ALL of us as we are seeking out ideas for dates. This can be as effective as we allow it to be if everyone will chip in! Please submit some stories and favorite dates in the comments below. I am by no means an expert when it comes to planning the perfect date, but I do have several tips for you to check out.
How to successfully plan a date
- Plan the date around his/her schedule.
- Be sensitive to the fact that they have a life too and make sure that you don’t plan the date on the night or day of something that they might already have going on!
- Surprise your date! Don’t do the average date with them. Dinner and a movie is fine but add some flavor to your date. Randomly give her/him small gifts throughout the date. They can be relatively inexpensive. You can get a coffee mug with a hot chocolate packet in it, give her a small bottle of perfume, or give your man a small bottle of cologne! Just be creative.
- Plan the date around his/her interests. You definitely want to enjoy the date for yourself as well but make sure that you put your spouse or date before yourself when it comes to planning a date for them. What do they enjoy doing? What is their favorite kind of food or restaurant? Is it possible for you to participate in something that they enjoy doing? For instance, if you love going to the movies all the time on dates and your date is okay with it but doesn’t love it, shake things up!
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Jake Waits is the Student Pastor at East Philadelphia Baptist Church in Philadelphia, MS. He has a passion to actively disciple students, loves his wife (Dian) and baby (Emma Grace), and loves pizza more than any other youth minister he has ever met!
About me: I am married to my beautiful wife, 
From Ministry Questions.com...
February 5th, 2009 at 10:07 am
Darn! When I saw the title in Google Reader, I thought it was a guide for us single youth workers! Maybe next time … LOL!
February 5th, 2009 at 10:21 am
@Tammie: There’s no reason why single youth workers can’t try most of these ideas. :)
February 6th, 2009 at 6:32 am
Here’s some ideas:
Museums & other local events: We’ve had more fun at free museums than we would have thought. They have rotating exhibits that can be very interesting. Check your newspaper, be willing to go outside the box and the two of you might develop a new hobby. (tip: Many local attractions have significantly reduced rates on Friday evenings.)
Plan your dream house : go to Borders or a large bookstore, get home bldrs. magazines and plan it together – whether you can ever afford it or not, it’s lots of fun and you learn so much about your spouse’s interests.
Who can forget the great outdoors? The ideas are endless…picnics (don’t make her pack it!), hikes, scavenger hunts. Borrow some fishing rods and try your hand at it.
Dressing up: If your girl doesn’t get to dress up much, give her a reason to. (and don’t forget to dress appropriately yourself). You might have to get real creative to find an inexpensive event for this one, but it will be worth it. She will enjoy looking nice and you will both appreciate each other in a new way.
It’s so easy to fall back on dinner and a movie, but if you take a little time in advance, the ideas will start to flow. Set a reminder a week or two before your date and start your research. Waiting until the last minute will invariably limit your options. Most of all, do things that promote fun & give opportunity to discover more of each other. You will create memories that bond you through the years.
February 8th, 2009 at 10:25 am
Kim, I like the ideas! Yeah, I definitely don’t see anything wrong with occasionally having a “normal” date (dinner & a movie) but I definitely do enjoy getting to plan dates a week or so in advance. Thanks for the input!