date nights

Marriage has been a big topic of conversation around me lately. I think a lot of it has to do with the life stage we are in. When you are a family with young kids, life is much crazier than those newly married years when it's just you and your husband. It's so easy to get wrapped up in the kids and lose sight of each other. I get that. I am crazy about my kids. I love them dearly and would do anything for them. It would be easy to want to spend all of my time doing things with them and for them. If you haven't seen a picture, they are pretty sinkin' cute. : )

But...

I love Jake more.

Jake and I had a date last night. It was SO great to be out with him. We love each other and our time together. He is my best friend and my teammate. We started to babysit swap with our sweet friends Andrew and Michelle and it was our turn. They came over to our house, played with our kids, cooked dinner for them, bathed them and put them to bed. What a huge blessing! I on the other hand put on my skinny jeans and heels (later to be replaced by TOMS... seriously... how to people walk in heels all day every day) and enjoyed every second of our date night out.

We believe so much in marriage. We also believe that a mom and dad who love and prioritize each other brings true security to kids... not child centered parenting. Because of this we make a big deal about date nights in the Box house! We budget for them, and not just that, we make sacrifices/cut back in other areas to make sure we have enough money for 2 fun date nights a month. The other two weeks in the month we do a low key "date night" at home. This mostly looks like renting a movie, sitting by the fire pit with hot chocolate... you get the idea. Date nights are a BIG deal to us.

I know that seems impossible for many people. Maybe it's a tight budget, or hard situation with kids. I just want to say that's not lost on me. It may be that after looking at your budget, making cuts and sacrificing, all you have enough money for is ice cream. That's ok. Still, get out and have the best ice cream date any couple has ever had!

While we were in Uganda, we obviously couldn't hire a babysitter and go on dates. But it was still so important to us. We ended up having a date night every night when the boys would go to bed. We would go on the back porch while we lived at the orphanage, or cozy up on the couch at our Bridge Africa house and talk, laugh, dream and blog. : ) Half of the time it was by candle light because of rolling blackouts! We made a habit of walking down to this little market during the day and buying 2 cokes and 2 candy bars for that night. I would usually make a cup of Via coffee with caramel creamer and we were set!

I kind of miss those little dates. They were warm, simple and every night. They hold so many memories for me and our time in Uganda.

So, if you are on a tight budget, or if it seems impossible to leave your kids right now, pretend you're in Uganda. Set aside nights to be together and make a point to grab a candy bar, coke or cup of coffee to go with it.

You won't regret it.

{Date night last night at Contigo Austin}

{I love him.}