Marriage maintenance dating!

I recently expressed to my husband the need to have business/budget meetings outside of our house. The logic here is no distractions of children, ringing phones and floors that need sweeping. He agreed.

I got another idea while running water, those negative ions are at it again! My thoughts went from business meetings to "marriage maintenance dates". We maintain our cars with oil changes, our homes need maintenance and we get evaluated at the job. I could go on and on, but you get the idea. Why not take the time to maintain our marriage?

So here's the plan. We get a babysitter. Select a restaurant with no tv. We come prepared with notebooks, an open heart and open mind. We will open up with prayer and then discuss the following.

Budget, bills and debt free plan
Immediate goals (family and individual)
1 year goals (family and individual)
3 year goals (family and individual)
Any concerns about the children
Iron out any issues
Things we appreciate about each other
Set a date for the next meeting
End with prayer

Of course this is not etched in stone but it's a start. Will it be a challenge to carve out this time? Sure, but we make time to do everything else we want. Maintaining our marriage is important.

Like anything else this plan can be adjusted to suit each family. Maybe you can have your meeting/date after the kids are fast asleep at night. If you have older kids you can send them to a friends house. Whatever works for you, plan your work and work your plan!

Anything worth having is worth working for. We put time and energy into many things in life that external and even temporary. But the most valuable things in life are our relationships, we ought to cherish and nurture them regularly.

I'll let you know how the first meeting goes.

Any thoughts, please share.