A Couples Daily Media Free Challenge
In this day and age, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to maintain a growing relationship with your spouse due to busyness of life, raising children, etc. But progressively more, due to social and electronic media, we are creating isolation for ourselves and distance from our spouses.
What are some ideas and action steps that we can practice in our marriages to draw us closer to one another, rather than closer to the television? How can we spend quality time together without the use of electronic media? Here are some ideas.
Below I have listed 4 daily habits taken from marriages that I have personally seen and admire. Join me in trying to implement one or more of these each day as we work towards cultivating stronger relationships with our spouses:
4 DAILY CHALLENGES:
- Coffee/Tea Dates – These dates are an intentional and set aside time for simply enjoying one another’s company. Set up on the dining table, couch, or better yet on the porch swing. These drinks are meant to be enjoyed. Why not enjoy them together by listening to the birds early in the morning, or the crickets late at night? These drinks tend to help one be creative. Why not dream and express thoughts and ideas together?
Going on walks together – Have you noticed that when you go on walks you begin to see things you hadn’t seen before? These dates likewise will help you to learn a little bit about your spouse that you might not have otherwise learned about him or her. You might be saying to yourself, “Wow, I didn’t realize she liked this particular flower” or “I didn’t know he liked this architectural feature on a home.” You get the idea.
Reading books to each other – These dates allow you to go on an adventure together without even having to leave the house. Pick up the novel, wipe the dust off the biography, or immerse yourselves in the book on “how to raise chickens”. Pick up the book that encourages your marriage, or that challenges your individual walks with the Lord, namely the Bible. Learn and exercise your imagination together. You will come to love your spouse’s reading voice, and you will begin to desire and anticipate these dates.
Dedicated time of prayer together – These are the times that will affect eternity. A man that I admire greatly once said, “Prayer is the transparency of the soul,” and in the same breath asked, “How is your wife praying?”. If we desire to know our spouses most intimately, we must learn of them when they are most vulnerable and show our own vulnerability, before God in prayer. We must not neglect this!
I admit that I am not perfect in daily keeping with the above 1-4, but I am trying. I challenge you to implement 1-3 or something else unique to your interests, but #4 should be a priority! The occasional appropriate movie or show is fine, but it should not be the norm. What are you doing already to daily pursue your spouse? I would love to have your feedback >>HERE<<.
