Boy, that title could be problematic if you’re not careful…

As I was saying last Friday, Cathy and I have had some interesting dates in our time.

But.

Kids and work and debt and mortgages and plain old inertia seem to have robbed us of something.  We don’t date anymore.  Oh, we go out to eat sometimes, if we have a coupon, and on rare occasions we see a movie—although we’re usually just pre-screening it for the kids.  But bona-fide romantical type dates?

Not so much.

That, my friends, has got to change.  Remember that verse I keep spouting?

…I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received (Eph. 4:1).

Well, one of my callings is to be a husband, and I need to be a husband worthy of the calling.  I’m not saying that I’m completely inept in the hubby department.   In fact, I’m pretty strong at some aspects of husbanding.

I do dishes.

I launder.

I cook from time to time.

I say nice things.

You may remember that my wife’s love language is gifts. Well, I’ll have you know that I’m even getting a tad better at giving gifties.  (Don’t tell Cathy, but I have a small present for her in our closet right now.)

Dates, though—I need to grow here.  My Cathy deserves it.

I have a two-pronged plan for becoming a dating dynamo.  First, Sunday is going to become Date Day.  Our church has three service times, and while we want the kids to be in with us, we also want them to attend the youth service.  So, here’s the way it works (in theory)—Cathy and I will drop the kids off at the early youth service, and then have 90 entire minutes to go take a walk, grab a bite, remind ourselves who that cute person across the table is.  After, we pick up the kids and attend church as a family.  Woohoo.

Prong Two sounds simpler than it is.  At least once a month I need to take Cathy on an actual date.

Not to Costco.

Not accomplishing anything on the “To Do’ list.

Just being together for the sake of being together.

That may sound pretty minimal, but for us it would be a rhapsody of romance.

Here’s where you come in.  No, I don’t want you to come along on the date—that would be odd.  What I could really use from you, Gentle Reader, is inspiration.  I know there is massive creativity out there—harness it to meet my needs.

What tops your list of creative, inexpensive dates?  Remember, we have kids at home, so we can’t be gone for more than two or three days at a time.  Post a comment below—don’t force me to my backup plan.

Not that Little Caesar’s is bad, mind you…