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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 other married couples around you as well. Some are simple gestures, and others 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.
20 Creative Ways to Invest in Other Married Couples
- 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 a 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. Check out PluggedIn for other movie reviews and suggestions).
- 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.
