Completely Joyful: The McLovin's WOW Date Night

Our church, Watermark Community Church, encouraged married couples to take a Saturday night out for a "Date Night Done Right." In the busyness of life, it is so easy to forget why we fell in love and forget the joy that was designed for marriage. We were instructed to go to the church parking lot, pick up our Date Night Kits, and simply spend an evening dating each other. Instructions would be provided to help have a WOW date!

Picking up our kits ... WOW!

Todd Wagner, our senior pastor, reminds us that we are either moving TOWARD oneness or AWAY from oneness in our marriage. This point is important in every decision that we make in our lives once we make that covenant at the alter. Often, we are moving away from one another because of selfishness. We struggle to serve our spouse first, just as we struggle to put Christ first. I know this is a daily battle in my life! My husband becomes the enemy, as I fight for my own selfish desires. This date night was a fun reminder for me of why I fell in love with my husband and a great step toward oneness in our marriage.

"So they are no longer two, but one.

Therefore what God has joined together,

let man not separate."

Matthew 19:6

"What causes fights and quarrels among you?

Don't they come from your desires that battle within you?"

James 4:1

The Date Night Kits were full of goodies, including a question/conversation guide, coupons, and candy. Yes, it was all free, and who doesn't love free stuff? Along with the guide, we had a challenge to total up how many times we could use the word "wow" throughout the night. Well, we like to take things to the next level, so we used some creativity and created a pictorial diary of our night, with some "WOW" pictures!

WOW!! Great stuff .. thanks Watermark!!

We headed south on I-75 and hit some traffic, but that's okay because we had our cute picture on the dash and our conversation guide in hand!

WOW! Now that's a cute couple!

It was a tough decision between Village Burger Bar and Patrizio's because we have great memories at both places. In fact, I almost burned down Village Burger Bar with a straw wrapper and a votive candle. You may wonder how this could possibly happen, but then again, you are dealing with the McDonoughs. We chose to play it safe and eat at Patrizio's.

Wow-wow-wee-wow ... that was delicious!

I think we overused our "wows" at dinner! We couldn't even keep track, it was so ridiculous! Our waiter, John, was a good sport and helped us out. We are hoping for some points for creativity! I'm thankful for a husband that plays along!

Check please! Wow, he did a great job!

Next, we were off for some dessert. Ice cream is my love language, so Marble Slab was an easy choice!

WOW! That's a lot of calories!

After a night full of great conversation and laughter, we headed home. But we were having so much fun, we didn't want the night to end! We wanted more WOW!!

Wow! Candy! Yummm!

Even Rambo wanted to participate!

WOWF!!

This was a date night that we will always remember! It was a step TOWARD oneness for our marriage. A night of fun and laughter. A night of working as a team to come up with silly ideas to creatively WOW people with our pictures!

WOW! Gotta keep date nights alive in marriage!

Here are some of the conversation starters/questions from the kit, in case you need some ideas for your own WOW date:

When we were dating, I tried to get you to say 'Wow' by ...
When we dated, the thing about you that made me say 'Wow' was ...
Something funny that only you know about me or that I only know about you is ...
Something I don't say "thank you" for nearly enough is ...
What about this restaurant makes you say, 'Wow'?
What's the hardest we have ever laughed in our marriage/relationship?
Your favorite way to waste time with your spouse.
An embarrassing moment in my life that I have never shared with you was when I ...
For Parents: The thing about you as a parent that makes me say, 'Wow!' is the way you ...
I understand more about Jesus because of the way you ...
I am more like Christ today because of the way you ...
Share a passage of scripture you read recently and why it was encouraging or challenging to you.
Something new you learned about your spouse ...
The most encouraging thing you said to me tonight ...

We ended this WOW date night with a kiss, as instructed, only a little different than most! :-) It took us several tries to get this picture just right ... and we enjoyed every bit of it!