Hey Friends,

I’m sure every woman in the world who is married, engaged or thinking about getting married, has heard the saying and I quote ” The same things that you did to get your husband are the same things you’re going to have to do to keep him”.

Am I right?!? I know I am!

I get what they’re saying, but I don’t consider this to be the case just because in a marriage, the husband and wife are always growing and should be growing together. So the same things that you were doing all those years ago may not interest the two of you anymore! Am I making sense?

Just stay with me here!

What I do agree with is that you should always do something that keeps your relationship alive and interesting. You know, to keep the home fires burning?!? I’m not just talking about sex either, even though that is a BIGGIE in marriage ( more on that later though !) ! What I am talking about is DATING one another! No its not just for before you get married! On the contrary! I believe you should always date your spouse! I mean consistently date! Leave the kids with a sitter or at home (if they’re old enough) and go and enjoy each others company! Dating is VITAL to a happy and healthy marriage.

Think about it…

Do you remember before you got married and how you and your husband used to go out on dates? Even if it was nothing but going to a burger joint, it was something that the two of you did together and you enjoyed it! When our kids we’re younger we didn’t have a lot of time or extra money to go out all the time. So we had to learn to be very creative about dating each other. We would put our kids in the bed or send them to their grandparents and either he or I would plan the evening. Sometimes it would be a special dinner with just us two, game night or a movie night. Whatever the date was, it had to be creative! Sometimes if we knew we wouldn’t be able to get away for the evening we would have a “day date”. We may go to lunch or a walk at the park, anything just to spend some quality time with each other.

Dating in marriage causes you to connect with one another as a couple. Not that you’re disconnected or anything like that, quite the opposite. It causes you to solely focus on one another, you know, you have each others undivided attention! In this day with cell phones, internet, emails, our jobs, businesses, and all the other “STUFF” and “THINGS” that we have to do, it is of the utmost importance that we periodically pull away from everything to nurture our marriages. So if you’ve not been dating one another, get busy doing it ( dating that is ha)! Here are a few things to help get you started…

Be Intentional  When you’re intentional about something, you determine mentally that this is what you’re going to do, you have a purpose and you’re looking for certain results. Dating goes the same way. We have to be intentional about dating our husbands. The purpose is to have one on one time together and the results are a closer marriage relationship with each other.

Be Creative Like I stated before, creativity will take you a long way. It can take an idea from good to great! Check online sources for date night ideas. There are some great online communities out there. One of my personal favorites is The Dating Diva’s. These ladies will have your date nights rockin! There are tons of ways to plan an awesome date without breaking the bank, you just have to be creative about it!

Be OPEN Take turns planning what you’ll be doing on your dates. However often you two choose to have date nights or days be sure to share the task.  Ladies, allow your husband the opportunity to plan date nights too! Learn how to go with the flow! I don’t think he would plan anything that you would hate or that you would find boring. After all they know us best!

BE FLY & FABOULOUS!

This is a no brainer!! Get your hair prettied up! Put on your best “fit”, your best makeup & perfume & BE FLY!!! Not only will he LOVE it but YOU will feel good about yourself as well!

I hope that through this post that you will be intentional about dating your spouse. For those that may be engaged or seeking to be married this is for you too! You want to build a strong foundation for a strong and healthy marriage. So start now and continue after you say I do. Don’t allow things to grow stale and stagnant in your marriage. That is the purpose of dating each other. We want to have not only Godly marriages, but marriages that are fun, exciting, spontaneous and HOT! Not one with the absence of problems, but one that knows how to weather the storms that come.

I will be posting a series on dating your husbands & I’ll also want to hear your suggestions on things that we can do on our date nights as well!

Until next time Friends, Happy Dating!

Love, Love

Nicole