Jim Daly Christian Blog and Commentary

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I Want YOU… to Share Your Date Night Stories, Questions and Advice

  • Jim Daly Jim Daly is president and chief executive officer of Focus on the Family, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping families thrive.
  • Updated Jul 22, 2013

Here at Focus, we’ve long promoted the idea that married couples thrive when they take the time to go on a regular “date night.” Yes, that’s right – in the middle of our fast-paced lives and parenting craziness, husband and wives should put in the effort to plan a time together to talk and connect outside of the normal routine.

For most married couples, it’s not easy to go on dates regularly. For some, it’s hard to justify the expense. If you’re in a season of life when you have small children, finding a trustworthy babysitter may be a real concern. Sometimes husbands and wives have different expectations about what constitutes a “date night” and that disagreement might be reason enough to abandon the effort. Or your children might be grown and gone and you and your spouse have settled into a seemingly comfortable rut of watching “Jeopardy!” during dinner. Why make the effort to leave the house?

Whatever the challenge you face, I’m here to tell you that date night is worth it. Yes, it takes effort, creativity, budgeting and intentionality – but the reward you reap is a stronger marriage.

I don’t want you to just take my word for it, however. I’d love for our readers to chime in with their date night testimonials to encourage couples who haven’t made the commitment to date their spouse. How has dating your spouse helped your marriage? Do you have any practical tips or advice on how to date on a budget? How do you get good conversation flowing with your husband or wife?

To those of you who are sold on the idea of the date night, but stuck on how to overcome the obstacles to actually getting out there and having some fun – what are your questions? What’s keeping you at home?

I appreciate this community of readers, and hope this “open thread” is a blessing to married couples out there in every stage of life. And who knows?... You may hear the “best of” in a future broadcast one day!


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