What Makes A Great Date

A prerequisite for a great date is that little four-letter-word, T-I-M-E! Time is our most precious commodity. Really, when you think about it, time is more valuable to a marriage than money.

And we each have twenty-four hours a day, no more, no less. But we know first hand how hard it is to find time for each other. Thank goodness, it's just hard -- not impossible! Consider the following time finders:

1. Tag other activities. Are you going to a couples study this week. Leave an hour earlier or come home an hour late. You've just found sixty minutes to date your mate!
2. Find time even when you're too tired to talk. Who says you have to always talk on a date? You can have an at home date after the children are in bed.
3. Don't talk. Don't do anything but cuddle on the couch. Enjoy the inexpressible joy that comes from feeling loved and safe with each other. The next morning, you'll be amazed at the couple chatter. Try it, it works for us!
4. Plan a middle of the night adventure. For the really adventuresome, set the alarm for the middle of the night!
5. Leave the TV off for 24 hours. If there is a national crisis, you'll hear about it soon enough. Use the time you would have spent watching television to date your mate.
6. Drive past the video store without stopping. While it's fun now and then to have a video date, videos can become habit forming and steal communication time. So the next time you're tempted to stop at the video store on the way home, don't. You've just freed up another evening!

It's up to you. You may never "find" the time to date your mate. But trust us, you can make the time. And time focused on each other will make your date great!

~ David and Claudia Arp, MSW, founders of Marriage Alive Seminars, are marriage educators, columnists and authors of numerous books and small group video curriculum including The Second Half of Marriage and 10 Great Dates (Zondervan) Website: www.marriagealive.com

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