Tonight

I love Date Night! Love, love, love it! I worked all day today and wasn't feeling well at all, but when Date Night was over, I was feeling great. I love the idea of it, I love the couples, I love the possibilities, I love the energy.

Date Night was born when Steve Capper at Mission Houston asked a group of us at a luncheon: "What is your part in changing the future?" (That's the short version of what I heard--I have no idea what he actually said!) We know that children do better in almost every way when their parents are reasonably happy in their marriages and healthy in their relationship skills. We also know that most couples can improve their marriages significantly by learning and practicing those skills and by paying attention to their relationships. So, that's my passion.

Date Night is one attempt to deliver marriage education in a way that is accessible, affordable and nonthreatening. So far, I've done 4 with a total attendance of about 100 couples. I have 3 more on the calendar between now and November. When the room is full of people who don't know each other and don't know me, when people are bringing their friends and family, when half of the couples don't attend church, when we figure out a way to include couples who are poor or marginalized, that's my dream come true.

Tonight wasn't my best night--I was very distracted, got my note cards out of order, had a couple of brain freezes--but the best thing about it is that it doesn't all depend on me. Somehow the energy of the event itself takes care of itself and everyone has fun, laughs a lot, and most people stay late. I love it.