*Questions* to Elevate Your Next Date Night
“We haven’t had a date night in two years,” she sighed. To this, my 11-year-old daughter, who was hired as the mother’s helper for her, promptly responded with conviction, “You need a date night.” The mother humbly took this comment to heart, planned a date night in the coming weeks to celebrate her wedding anniversary, and joy was multiplied!
As my daughter recounted this story, I was so proud of her! She influenced this sweet mother in a positive way, and who knows what kind of tradition this might ignite?
As I continued to reflect on that story, God encouraged me by bringing to mind that our daughter had seen good fruit from date night being modeled in our home. It’s never been easy to leave our daughters with a sitter, but easy isn’t equivalent with good and right. I felt affirmed that the accommodations, required from each family member to make date night work, are truly worthwhile!
As a mentor taught me long ago, “We never reap what we sow in the same season.” It may look like sowing good seeds of connection with our spouse, but in the moment it presents as a crying toddler, a cost financially, and a mother torn between wanting to be in two places at once.
Later on, however, it produces a harvest of a happy and healthy marriage, where the parents are connected and the children benefit from the overflow. This process requires faith, but the rewards of faith are sweet!
Another unexpected benefit is that I believe our daughters will carry on this legacy, as they have witnessed their parents dating every Tuesday night for the duration of their lifetime.
I get so excited to envision them enjoying this brief sabbath from regular life with their someday-spouse, if that’s what God has in store for them. It has reinvigorated me all the more to continue prioritizing date night.
Date night makes it through the filter of Philippians 4:8, “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” (NIV)
I love how the text continues, not to just think about these good things, but to act on them.
“Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.” (Philippians 4:9)
Let’s put date night into practice!! As you know from Date Night Refresh and Additional Idea for Date Night, Mark and I like to come to date night prepared with questions and something to share to grow in our emotional and intellectual intimacy with one another. Mark’s continued prayer as we begin each date night is to “continue getting to know each other better.” It’s such a gift and I pray you open this gift in your own relationship as well!
Here are ten of our recent favorite questions to get you started:
In this season of life, where can you tell you are making a difference?
On a scale of 1-10, how child-centered are your daily life decisions? (1 being “I don’t consider our kids in any of my decisions” and 10 being “I let our children dictate all our decisions”) What changes to your daily life would you like to make to move toward your desired number?
When was the last time you sensed God speaking to you? Will you share more about how you hear from Him or why you think you’ve struggled to identify when it is Him speaking?
If your entire to-do list was done, and you had full freedom and margin, how would you like to spend your next work day and non-work day?
What pace do you believe God is inviting you into for this next season? What course corrections need to take place to actually slow down or speed up?
What’s one thing you would like to accomplish before the week is over to make it feel like a win?
If someone asked you to do an adult show-and-tell to represent what’s important in your life, what would you share?
What robs you of peace? And what restores or replenishes peace in your life?
If you could only recommend one book and one podcast that you’ve consumed lately, which one of each would you share with a friend and why?
Proverbs 10:22 (BSB) says, “The blessing of the LORD enriches, and He adds no sorrow to it.” What are some examples of this in your own life, for which you are grateful?
As always, happy dating to you!
Sincerely,
Laura
About The Savvy Sauce
Practical chats for intentional living
A faith-based podcast and resources to help you grow closer to Jesus and others. Expect encouragement, surprises, and hope here. Each episode offers lively interviews with fascinating guests such as therapists, authors, non-profit founders, and business leaders.
They share their best practices and savvy tips we can replicate to make our daily life and relationships more enjoyable!
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