Doing this book with a group at our church has been a great blessing to our marriage. I can also see how it has benefited some of my friends too as I watch their interaction with their spouses.
You don’t need a group to do this–just your spouse. But our church made it easy and fun by providing free childcare (for 2 hours on Sunday evening) at the church so that, when we went for our dates, we could all leave our kids for a couple of hours with some responsible teenagers from our youth group supervised by 1 or 2 single adults. Also, our pastoral staff talked to local businesses near our church letting them know we were doing this to strengthen marriages and inviting them to give us deals since we needed to go to a place close to the church to be back in time for our kids–many business owner’s thought it was great and offered us coupons and even “buy one meal and get one free”!
As a result of doing this, the couples who participated became more invested in one another’s marriages–encouraging each other. Did I mention we had about 35 couples commit to this 10-week marriage builder?! I have noticed more looks of admiration and adoration between spouses going around …
This isn’t a bible study or group discussion really: you meet to view a 5 minute video recap of the chapter you read in preparation for the date. Then you go out! It’s really about building a deeper connection with your spouse by talking about things deeply. The spirit of the book is very non-confrontational so enjoy!
Kim B.
http://www.christianbook.com/great-dates-to-energize-your-marriage/david-arp/9780310210917/pd/0210917
