How’s your marriage? Are you growing or decaying? Far too many marriages are disconnecting because two people who were very much in love have distanced themselves because of good intentions with the kids’ activities. One weekend some time ago, I was feeling a bit disconnected from Cathy. It had been a very busy “kid season” and an extra busy work season. I asked her on Sunday evening to take Monday off with me and just hang out. At first it was difficult for her to imagine changing her Monday schedule but she did and I’m glad she did. We enjoyed a long walk at the harbor, ate a fun lunch and then went shopping! Now shopping is not my favorite activity, especially when we were searching for a new bedspread. We had our old one for the past 15 years; it seemed to do the job for me!
After we arrived home, we immediately went straight into the kid responsibilities but we both had more bounce in our step because of our connection time. If it has been a while since you had a meaningful connection time with your spouse, make a decision today to make it happen. Be proactive and take the responsibility to celebrate your marriage relationship.
Here are 10 creative connection ideas:
- Take him/her away for an overnight. Make all the arrangements for babysitting, reservations and whatever else is needed and then tell your spouse.
- Kidnap your spouse for the day.
- Go for a walk in the woods, beach, mountains, mall.
- Buy something new for the house.
- Husbands, watch Monday night football with your wife? Just kidding!
- Attend a play.
- Take a fun class together
- Do something you haven’t done since you were dating.
- Take an exercise class together.
- Spend some extra time praying together..
Printed by permission of HomeWord (formerly YouthBuilders); Copyright © 2004. For additional information on HomeWord, visit www.homeword.com or call 800-397-9725.
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Jim Burns
Jim Burns, Ph.D., is a renowned youth and family expert, an acclaimed author, and the founder of HomeWord, a radio program that reaches more than a million people across the country each day. In partnership with Azusa Pacific University, he established and now provides leadership for the HomeWord Center for Youth and Family, a research and training institute offering biblically based resources for parents and youth. Under Burns, the center has become the largest provider of Christian parenting and youth seminars in the United States. His passion is communicating to adults and young people practical truths to help them live out their Christian lives. Burns is a three-time Gold Medallion Award-winning author and has written books for parents, youth workers, and students. He also speaks in person to thousands of people each year around the world. Burns and his wife, Cathy, and their daughters, Christy, Rebecca, and Heidi, live in Southern California. For more information about Burns, visit homeword.com.
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