Twenty More Ways You Can Invest in Marriage
Meeting regularly with another couple in a mentoring relationship is a great way to invest in building marriages. But there are a host of other ways you can encourage couples around you as well. Some are simple gestures, others will involve a little effort. Scan the list below for some creative ideas of how you and your spouse can help create stronger marriages in your church, neighborhood and community.
- Organize a progressive dinner for couples on your street.
- Meet with an engaged couple to go through a marriage preparation book together.
- You and your spouse bring dessert, flowers, or a small care package to welcome a new couple into the neighborhood.
- Start a couples book-club.
- Invite another couple on a double-date night with you, seasoning your time together with marriage-building conversation.
- Volunteer to lead a Sunday school class for young marrieds.
- Invite an unchurched couple to attend church with you.
- Invite another couple to attend an upcoming marriage conference with you.
- Mentor a less-experienced couple by meeting once a month for the next year.
- Offer to babysit for a cash-strapped couple with young children so they can enjoy an evening out by themselves.
- If you’re aware of another couple’s anniversary, send them a card and maybe a small gift to celebrate the occasion.
- Form friendships with other spouses of your gender in your neighborhood and encourage them in their marriages. Wives can have other wives over for tea or coffee; husbands might go fishing or go to the ballgame together. Offer a safe haven, a listening ear, and a reassuring voice.
- Organize an event at your church to honor couples who have reached 50 years or another significant milestone, and give them an opportunity to share their stories and lessons learned.
- Pass along a DVD movie with a good marriage message to another couple, or invite them over to your house to watch. (Some suggestions: “”Shadowlands”, “Up”, “Friendly Persuasion”, “Fireproof”, and “Courageous”).
- Pay for an online relationship assessment for a couple considering marriage.
- Spearhead a marriage mentoring ministry at your church (with your pastor’s blessing), perhaps pairing each newly married couple with a more experienced one.
- Give a marriage devotional as a Christmas present.
- Host an engagement party to celebrate the event for a couple who has taken that step toward marriage.
- Help organize a Valentine’s Day celebration at your church.
- Be spontaneous – invite another couple for an impromptu backyard barbecue or to join you at the movies that evening.
- Trade houses with another couple for a weekend to give each of you an inexpensive getaway.
- Look for opportunities to compliment couples you know for the way they demonstrate love for one another.