I've discussed with many couples how often we put time with our spouse lower on our priorities for a multitude of excuses. Well, I'm here to say it's time to shake it up and refresh your relationship with 144 ideas to discover your love and joy for each other all over again. Whether you're a newlywed, seasoned spouse or empty nester, you'll find something you'll enjoy together.
New Floral Version (2022)! A perfect gift for a wedding or bridal shower!
Created for the Catholic Christian married couple in mind. On the occasion of our 20th Anniversary, I wanted to share a new look for the CATHOLIC DATE IDEAS AND DEVOTIONS FOR MARRIED COUPLES cards. This PDF Digital File for you to print has 144 ideas to make date planning easier, and keep God at the center of your relationship. That's more than one idea per week for two years! It covers the five love languages, a variety of locations and price ranges, and encourages virtue. A sheet of blank cards included for personal ideas.
Celebrating St. Valentine's Day and attending weddings are always great reminders that we need to nourish our relationships with extra love and care. It's also a nice resource for those Phase 2 NFP moments. Not every idea is Catholic, but there are several cards that refer to praying together, visiting shrines, starting a novena together, gathering with other couples, renewing your vows, and helping ignite your desire to include your faith in any adventure you embark.
Colored categories include:
Faith Integrated Ideas
Inexpensive & At home Ideas
Outdoor & Active Ideas
Enriching & Cultural Ideas
Group & Community Activities
Tickets for Love Languages include:
Quality Time
Give a Gift
Affirmation
Physical Touch
Acts of Service
Acts of Faith
THIS PDF FILE IS ON MY ETSY SHOP
VERSION: JUST THE TICKET
VERSION: LOVELY FLORAL
This is a digital item, so you will be given a link for a PDF download.
I suggest printing two boxes on 60lb+ cardstock, and cards on 30lb paper.
Now includes several colorful options for printing on the backside of the cards for a more finished piece. Use one or a variety. Add rounded corners for a professional look.
They look great with rounded corners!
THE CARD BOX
Print two boxes to hold all 144 cards!
Chose an image to print on the reverse side if you want the inside to be decorated.
Cut out as directed on the page.
The tabs should keep the box together, but you could glue or tape it.
With this many ideas, we'd have enough to last us a few years. However, I'd love to add to this collection. Please comment with anything else you've done that was a real hit for you and your spouse.
More ideas might include:
Plant a Mary Garden
Tour a new Adoration Chapel each week
Study a Saint
Start a Novena
Read the Love Dare
Read The Five Love Languages
Take a Dave Ramsey Class
Chose a Procrastinated Project to do during Phase2 (NFP)
Write new vows for your upcoming Anniversary
Make plans for your Silver (25th) Anniversary
Create a Pinterest board of things you'd like to do
Plan a Family Vacation or Activity
Hold hands in public today
Sit next to each other in Mass
Attend a Marriage Encounter
MARRIED COUPLES EXAMEN
Have I said I love you today both in words and actions?
Do I speak with words that are good, true, lovely, and beautiful? Or do I use harsh, judgemental, and condemning words when speaking to him/her?
Have I complained about my spouse (interiorly or aloud)?
Do I share with others information about my spouse that isn’t meant to be shared? Specifically failings or faults?
Do I give him/her the benefit of the doubt or do I always assume the worst?
Do I offer loving patience when my spouse is having a difficult time or do I lose patience and lack compassion?
Am I empathetic with my spouse’s sufferings?
Have I held on to small hurts or harbored resentment or anger?
Do I choose to smile and bring peace to the home even when I don’t feel like it?
Am I a reflection of the unconditional love of God to my spouse?
Did I use my spouse in any way today as a means to an end?
Have I loved him/her as a child of God with intrinsic value?
Have I worked to make life more bearable for my spouse today?
Have I prayed with and for him/her?
Have I forgiven wrongs immediately or do I hold on to them?
Have I taken myself or my spouse too seriously and failed to be a source of joy?
Have I read, listened to, prayed about, or watched at least one small thing today to build up the relationship?
Did I do any acts of love or service for my spouse today?
Was I pure in thought while away from my spouse?
Have I kept unhealthy friendships or allowed others to take priority over my married relationship?
Have I supported or watched any shows or media that devalue Christian marriage?
Do I say I’m sorry and admit wrongs openly?
Do I blame my spouse for my own failings?
Do I cling to pride when my spouse brings up grievances or do I bear wrongs patiently?
Have I honored my spouse with my presence and time today?
Has gambling, video games, novels, movies, or other created things taken precedence over my marriage today?
Do I love as Christ would have me love?
Written July 25, 2013 by Melissa @ Homegrown Catholics
I remember in the first year of our marriage, our refrigerator door was bare except for a dry erase board where every morning my husband wrote me a love note. Just a few years later it included potty training charts, finger paintings and ABC magnets. In that same time my task list went from a little post-it note to a
notebook page. In recent years, that same task list is now the prominent paperwork on the fridge door and tablet. Drawings get neatly tucked away, and love letters are few. That place for cherished things is now focused on what needs to get done. If it wasn’t for the food inside, I swear they’d avoid that area. While the “to do’s” of chores, schoolwork, yard work, and phone calls are important, I’ve somehow made them a prominent point of my life. What does that say to my family about where my focus is? What does it show of what we have accomplished? Where do we then share our love notes?
notebook page. In recent years, that same task list is now the prominent paperwork on the fridge door and tablet. Drawings get neatly tucked away, and love letters are few. That place for cherished things is now focused on what needs to get done. If it wasn’t for the food inside, I swear they’d avoid that area. While the “to do’s” of chores, schoolwork, yard work, and phone calls are important, I’ve somehow made them a prominent point of my life. What does that say to my family about where my focus is? What does it show of what we have accomplished? Where do we then share our love notes?
The list of priorities in most Catholic and faith-filled families is “First God, then Spouse, then Children and Family, then Others, then Self.” While my task list is filled with great objectives, it is missing these categories all together! Perhaps we, who cherish our task lists on our fridge or on our electronic devices, should come up with a new way of prioritizing our tasks. It might look a little like this:
What I need to accomplish today
1. Spend time with God.
2. Love my Spouse by:
3. Enjoy my children as we:
4. How can I connect with others?
5. Taking care of myself.
6. This needs to get done too:
 |
| A Printable Task List is available HERE |
I have a lot of self help books. After looking on my shelves there are plenty books about my faith, being a mother, about children, health, and homeschooling. Yet, there are only two books about being a good spouse. Somewhere along the line I forgot to add my marriage to my task list. When we become busy people and parents, we often forget to schedule in time with each other. That can leave you feeling as if you have a roommate more than a spouse. When you take care of your car with regular oil changes, washes, waxes, adding gas, vacuuming, etc it will last longer, wear out less, get better mileage, and you are proud to be seen in it. Others see your car and notice your care of it. When one person in our neighborhood washes their car or mows their lawn, it’s like a chain reaction of all other neighbors doing the same. The same can happen with our marriages. As we nurture it with regular care and tune ups where needed, it will last longer, wear out less, get better mileage, you will be proud to be together, and others will be inspired to nurture their own marriages.
Those two books I have about marriage are great resources. They helped us realize that in order to have a better relationship, you can’t focus on changing the other person or be waiting for them to do something – you instead need to first change how you approach your spouse, take time to learn about him/her, and make the first move. Learn what is their love language (how they love and want to be loved), as well as what ways can you best show your love.
- The 5 Love Languages by Gary Chapman
- The Love Dare by Alex and Stephen Kendrick
So when I put together my new task list, what might it include for loving my spouse?
- Read about improving my marriage
- Go on a Marriage Encounter (www.wwme.org )
- Renew our vows
- Be intimate with each other
- Be open to life (www.ourcatholicmarriage.org/family/life/)
- Be the first to:
- Go in for a kiss
- Roll over to snuggle
- Change the diaper
- Stop arguing
- Ask how his/her day went
- Leave love notes:
- Next to the task list or on the calendar
- In his lunch box (that you packed)
- Write “I Love You” in permanent marker inside the lunch box
- On the bathroom mirror, steering wheel, fridge or bouquet
- Thank you notes
- Doing a chore the other might usually do
- Have a regular date night:
- A long walk
- Coffee at a café
- Kids at Grandma’s night
- Dinner and a Movie
- Dance lessons
- Adoration Hour together
- Bowling
- Join a team or volunteer together
- Get a sitter to go shopping
- Dating with Kids:
- Family movie, but you sit next to each other
- Eat at a fast food with a playland or picnic at the park, kids play and you two can talk
- Have the kids plan your date
- Have the kids make and serve dinner
- Other ways to be together:
- Wake up together and pray
- Making meals or washing dishes together
- Rosary before bedtime
Prioritizing your marriage by adding it to your task list, calendar and heart will eventually become part of a regular maintenance plan. Coming up with ideas together and writing them down will show your spouse that to you they are important and cherished. Checking off those tasks will have a whole new level of joy and appreciation. If the list is getting too long, perhaps some projects could be moved to a separate “It can wait” list to make room for what matters now. You should never be too busy for the real priorities in life.