As long as Bobby and I have been married, we have heard the importance of making our relationship the most important human relationship we have. The only other relationship that should be held higher than each other, is the one with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. To that end, we have strived to make time for one another and especially to go on dates, either on our own or with other couples.
By doing so, we have gotten out of our normal, everyday life and away from things that would distract us from each other (for me it is TV; for Bobby it is the computer). When we do this, we both agree that it is good to get away. Now that we are part of the Press On Marriage Ministry Team at Parkview Christian Church, we have the opportunity to encourage other couples to do the same. The Press On Marriage Ministry just hosted this past Saturday (February 10, 2018) our inaugural “Couples Date” and it was a great success.
Alyson Steiner and I co-chair the committees on the couples dates and special events. Honestly, though, Saturday wouldn’t have been half as good if it weren’t for Alyson. The busy mother of three children, all under 6 and stylist at a local hair salon, was able in her “spare time” to coordinate everything that went into our “It’s Time to Play” Couples Date.
The idea was to have couples come to the church and play various types of games. We offered free child care for those with children, so that the cost of a babysitter wouldn’t get in the way of young couples being able to get out.
There were three different types of games for the couples to play. One type was board games, one was cards — like Euchre and Uno and the third was kids games — like Trouble, Jenga, Sorry and my favorite, Hungry, Hungry Hippos.
Alyson had the great idea to have different kinds of snacks for the different kinds of games. So chips and pretzel were in with the cards; veggies and cheese and crackers were with the board games and M&M’s and Goldfish crackers were with the kid games.
As any event goes, when it is done the first time, it wasn’t packed, but we had a good attendance. Bobby and I got to spend time playing games with other couples that we might not normally had a chance to hang out with. We both had a great time.
That seemed to be the general consensus of the group. Bobby, who is always interested in documenting events, asked couples why they came and how they liked it.
Tracy Holtz said, “She [Lou Ann, his wife] made a comment a week and a half ago, ‘I want to start doing things besides just coming home and sitting in the house.’ So, this was a good way to get us out. For that it is good. We don’t date enough anyway.”
For Lou Ann, the event was a good start to do things differently.
Rich and Becky Benninger said the reason they came was “to meet other couples in the church.” They started by introducing themselves during the first game and, as Becky said, “We’ve been having a great day.”
Adam and Marcia Martin said they “have a hard going on dates, because there is always so much other stuff going on.” They agreed with Bobby when he said, “It can be easier to just stay at home.” They said the event was good and they had fun.
Ann Shriver said the event “was awesome. We got to meet new people. We did a lot of laughing.” Her husband, Ed, agreed. “It was great,” Ed said. “I liked the fellowship and having fun playing different games.”
As you can see, it was a great event. Alyson and I are glad it is in the books, so to speak. But we’ll not have a lot of time to bask in success, as we are planning our next one in May. It won’t be the same type of thing, but we’ll still offer free babysitting. Watch for more details to come. In the meantime, if you are married, get out there and date! Because Couples [need to] Date.
