10 Ideas: Making Time for Your Spouse

Being a working mom of two kids, I tend to neglect my better half! I’m sure most of us working moms can relate to this. It’s an issue that we ignore but can have serious effects on our marriage. I stumbled across the article below and it helped me in terms of finding creative ways to find time for each other. Enjoy!

How to keep marriage on the front burner of life.

By Mary May Larmoyeux

Author Feb 06, 2015

My husband, Jim, and I have been married for more than 30 years and we consider one another to be best friends. Despite this, we have to intentionally keep our relationship and marriage on the front burner of life. 
Finding time to be with just one another is important to Jim and me. But I confess, it’s not always an easy thing to do. And this isn’t just our isolated problem. It’s common in most marriages—regardless of age. The following 10 ideas can help you and me intentionally make time for our spouse:

1. Cultivate a common interest. Your spouse should be your best friend, and friends enjoy spending time with one another. If you and your spouse have different hobbies, find something that you both enjoy doing and do it together. You may want to go bike riding, walk together at the end of a long day, play tennis, or learn how to ballroom dance. Shared experiences enrich marriages and deepen friendship.

1. Have a regular date night. If you don’t have a relative nearby who would gladly watch your kids, then consider swapping babysitting with a friend on a regular basis. For example, you would watch their kids on the first Friday of every month and they would watch your kids on the second Saturday of every month.  Also you can go a step further and tune-up your marriage at a weekend getaway, this will help you get away from the distractions of life and focus on one another.

1. Try new adventures together. We only live this life once. Try doing something different to force yourself out of the rut of normal day-to-day living. If you and your spouse would like to do something a little more daring, consider activities such as skydiving, scuba diving, mountain climbing, etc.

1. Write love letters to one another and read them over a romantic dinner. Writing letters is almost a lost art form today. You may want to redeem it by regularly expressing your love to your spouse in a letter. Then read it to your spouse over a romantic dinner. You could purchase special wooden boxes for your love letters. Or, record them in individual journals as a lasting reminder to your legacy of your love for one another. If you’re not sure how to begin writing your letter, read “Tips for Writing a Notable Love Letter.”

1. Set aside regular time to talk with one another—without any distractions. Make time to focus on one another and talk about the day’s events. You and your spouse may want to do this after the kids go to bed. The important thing is to share heart-to-heart and face-to-face.

1. If the kids are in school, you may want to have lunch together once a week. Put it on the calendar and make definite appointments. I read about a pastor who did this for years. He had a standing invitation for lunch one day a week that could not be broken—lunch with his wife.

1. Read a book together and discuss it over coffee at a local coffeehouse or bookstore. Take turns choosing the books. If a movie has been made out of the book, read and discuss it together and then watch the movie. Compare the book to the movie.

1. Be accountable to one another. Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 tells us, “Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor. For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion.”

1. You may want to ask your spouse to keep you accountable in a certain area. For example, I have a habit of over-committing myself and having way too many things on the to-do list. My husband is great about bringing me back to earth and helping me establish a more balanced schedule.

1. Pray together. When we regularly pray with our spouse, our souls and hearts are uniquely knit together. Sadly, we’ll forget many of the ways God answers our prayers unless we write them down.