"Out Of The Box Date Night"

Matt and I did not date very much during the courting phase of our relationship. Dating however has become a very important priority in our marriage. We love to spend time together. We have fun together, so date nights are very exciting and we look forward to them. Matt is usually the Date Night planner in our house. He arranges the childcare and plans the date. Yes, I know how blessed I am. This weekend we had a friend offer to keep our children and pay for our date. How exciting is that? I decided that I would design 4 date night packages for Matt to choose from. 

Package 1 - Dinner at Julianna Toyko and OHS production of Oliver.
Package 2 - Dinner at Mandarin House and A Movie
Package 3 - Dinner at Amsterdam and Lakeview's Presentation of "Jesus Saves"
Package 4 - Dinner at Ariccia and Live Jazz Band Concert

When Matt came home yesterday I presented these packages to him. Secretly I was hoping for package # 3. I had a few reasons for this. 1. We never eat at Amsterdam. 2. I love to worship. 3. I enjoy worshipping with my husband and I do not get to do that very often. I was determined NOT to persuade Matt in any way. He gave careful consideration to these packages and he said, "I have an idea. What if we go to Amsterdam, Go to Lakeview's Worship Service and then try to catch a movie afterwards." Sounded like a good idea to me, but movies can be so questionable. We did some research and found a movie that we thought would be ok. We had an amazing dinner, precious conversation and laughed a lot. We arrived at Lakeview and decided to take our old seats from years ago right on the front row. We were not quite prepared for the blessing we were about to receive. We stood there together singing praises to our King. We worshipped together. I stood there with my husband thanking God for oneness and for a husband that I can worship with. About halfway through the presentation I took a potty break and prayed "Lord Jesus, we have worshipped you in spirit and in truth and the desire of my heart is to continue this spirit of worship through this evening and I don't have a peace about going to a movie. If this is your desire please place Matt on the same page." I returned just in time to celebrate our Victory In Jesus. We left this incredible time for worship and headed to the movie, but still within my heart I did not have a peace. I prayed as we walked to the ticket counter, "Lord if it is not your will for us to see this movie then let it be sold out." I prayed this all the while thinking how impossible this would be since this movie had been out for a while. I could have spoken up, but it was possible that I was just not in the mood for a movie and Matt was excited about it so I wanted it to be God's decision not mine. We walked to the ticket counter and guess what? SOLD OUT!!! I shared with Matt my conversations with the Lord that night and it was settled. No movie. Instead we went for ice cream and had some wonderful conversation about worship and Psalms. This was a precious evening. God desires for us to worship Him in spirit and in truth and in doing so as a couple we are encouraging oneness in our marriages. When was the last time you surprised your spouse with a date? Make it a priority. Make it creative. Build that oneness within your marriage. Spend time together. Honor God with your marriages. It's FUN!