Stewardship is key not only in our journeys to financial freedom, but also in our marriages. Our marriages and husbands are blessings from God. Making sure you are investing in your marriage is key to keeping it healthy.
We should not just invest our time, but also our resources. It is important to make room not only in our schedule, but also our budgets by making sure babysitting is always in our budget.
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Matthew 6:21 (NKJV)
When most of us hear or refer to this verse, we think about tithing or giving. Yet, that’s not all this verse is referring to, I believe Jesus was talking about so much more. We give and spend our money on so many things that are important to us and close to our hearts.
So if we can budget money for groceries, oil changes, and swimming lessons, why can’t we do the same for our marriages. Why can’t we make sure babysitting is always in our budget so we are consistently getting date nights with our husbands?
I have three daughters, so I know how costly babysitting for date nights can be. Yet despite the costs, we are committed to taking care of our marriage. So it has become a part of our monthly budget. It did not always start out this way. We used to look at getting a babysitter as a luxury and would only fit it in when we could.
However, we discovered that we rarely found a way to fit it in because we had already budgeted our money for other things. Although the other things were important, our marriage is more important. So instead of looking at babysitting for date nights as a luxury, we made it a priority.
Relish life with the spouse you love each and every day of your precarious life. Each day is God’s gift.
Ecclesiastes 9:9 (MSG)
I don’t know about you, but I love spending quality time with my husband. There is something so special about taking time out of our busy lives to get out and spend quality time together. Sometimes doing something big, like going to a concert, or small, like getting ice cream and just talking.
Yet, no matter what we do, big or small, we do something. We are committed to stewarding our finances in such a way that we make sure we are honoring God by investing in each other. What better way to do that then by making our marriage a priority and making sure babysitting is always in our budget.
I’d love to hear how you keep your marriage a priority while maintaining good stewardship in the comments!
Amen date nights are so important even without kids.
Yes, Shannon! Spending quality alone time with your husband is so important during the entire marriage. 💕
I agree that babysitting and quality time are VERY important, but I feel the need to point the inherent privilege in the statement you’re making, and to remind you that not everyone has the ability to budget for babysitters, or swimming lessons for that matter. Some of us struggle to have enough to feed our families or to buy diapers. So hearing about how something which ultimately *is* a luxury “should” be added to our budget isn’t that helpful. I’m happy for you that this is something you’ve managed to get for your family, and I”m sure you worked hard and earned that privilege. You’re also right that for a marriage to succeed the couple needs time away from the kids. For anyone to be sane, coupled or not, they need “me time.” But the poor are too often overlooked when it comes to this matter, even though we probably need the break the most. I just think your message could be better served by being worded in a more inclusive way, one which acknowledges that this is something which not everyone can do, rather than saying you “should” do something expensive and giving people who can’t afford it one less reason to feel inferior.
Such wise words – most of us don’t get babysitters when for kiddos but nurturing that husband is so important. WTG
The How-to Guru
Yes, I agree. Date nights need to be planned and budgeted for. They are so important to a marriage. Thank your for reminding us of that today!
Oh my word, I love this! I don’t have children, so it’s hard for me to say anything, but I know the importance of dating your spouse and making time for one another. That shouldn’t change with children. LOVE LOVE!
Ayanna,
I absolutely LOVE this! SO many of us (myself included) say that they are going to try and start prioritizing date nights, but I know that I’m guilty of putting it behind everything else when I KNOW quality time with my husband is SO important! I love the idea of adding it into our budget so that we keep it real – and it totally will help us stay on track to making our marriage a priority again – thanks so much for this inspiring article!
I like your phrasing of “investing in each other.” Just as it’s necessary to make financial investments in housing, savings, etc., it’s important to make that investment in your spouse.
This is so true! If you can make your marriage a priority, it is such a great example for your children!
Yes, Laura! We have to be the best example for our kids and that means letting them how important our marriage is. ?
Such a great post. I, however, even though we can absolutely set aside a budget for babysitting opt not to. There’s just a lot of viral videos where the babysitters hurt or abused the babies and I just don’t want to put my kids in those kinds of situation. What my husband and I usually do is take a day off while the kids are in day care where there’s a lot of witness if something were to happen and spend the entire day with each other. Or if the kids are sleeping, we usually watch a movie or binge series watch that we both like and have a couple bottles of beer.
Belle
Thanks, Belle. Everyone has to find something that works for them and their family. I’m glad that you are able to have some quality alone time with your hubby while your kids are at daycare and after their bedtime. We have seen some of the same videos you are referring to and it saddens us that we live in a world where things like that happen. However, we choose to not live in fear and let a few bad apples spoil the bunch. We know and have met some awesome babysitters over the years. We will continue to put our trust in God to put the right people in our lives; and to watch over and protect our family. {Proverbs 29:25} Be Blessed! ?
I think this is important and we’ve started doing this regularly too, though it’s a bit easier for us as my sister lives with us, though maybe that makes it even more important, because we always have extra people around, as we have another border too
I fully agree. Date night is a priority in a marriage. Thank you for sharing such truth and wisdom.
Cool thoughts! We have babysitters every week while we do Youth but don’t pay them. But we do pay if it’s date night 🙂
Thanks, Hannah. Having childcare when leading in ministry is so important and that’s awesome that you have babysitters to support that. And you also have babysitters to help you support your marriage. 😉
This was a great way to look at that verse! I never looked at it this way before. As a new mommy this is a great reminder of what I can do to nurture my marriage and make sure that my husband is also a priority.
This is something we are absolutely guilty of NOT doing. We need to put it in our budget. Having 4 boys ages 4 and under rarely leaves time for us. Come 2017 when my hubby returns from his deployment, this will be a new section in our budget! Thank you for reminding me how important it is for date nights!
Thanks for the reminder! With 5 kids, we have a hard time fitting in dates!
I’m going to make changes for the new year and make sure we have regular date nights!
Julie
When our kids were little we really didn’t have the money to pay a babysitter. Instead my friends and I would watch each others kids so we could go out. Worked really well and saved us all money.
Love your thoughts on this topic and applying that verse about our treasures to marriage. I think you are so right!!