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    I have a girlfriend and my wife knows. Really, she does. My girlfriend and I go out on dates just so we can spend some time together. Let me tell you about her. She is tall, slim, and blond. Her big blue eyes are only matched in beauty by her bright smile. On top of all, she is incredibly bright and ... she’s my daughter.

    Since she was about three, Ana and I have gone out on dates. Sometimes it’s just a movie. Sometimes it’s just dinner. Sometimes it’s both. Sometimes we dress up (that’s always a head turner at the restaurant). Sometimes we dress down. She even still lets me carry her down the mall like a mermaid. Of course, I am required to open the doors for her, seat her at the dinner table, and mind my manners.

It is simply a matter of taking the time.

    Now that my wife and I have three young ones, dating is practiced with the whole lot of them. I have dates with my sons, too. These times are just as wonderful and personal, but take on unique, very “boy” features! My wife gets into the act, too, with her special dates with the kids.

    This has become a special activity in our family. It allows us as parents to talk, play, and simply get to know each of our children as individuals. They can tell their stories without being interrupted by siblings demanding equal time and equal attention simultaneously. It works and is simply a matter of taking the time.

    George Barna states that time is the “money” in our society. “Time,” Barna says, “is the one resource which we cannot manufacture. It is a non-renewable resource which limits our ability to experience all we can.”^[1] With all the commitments and responsibilities crying for our time, priorities have to be set, especially with something as valuable as ones family. To paraphrase Jesus, “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own family?” Make some memories. Spend some time. You won’t regret it.

^[1] George Barna, The Frog in the Kettle (Ventura, CA: Regal, 1990), 39.

© 1998, Eddie Randolph. Used by permission. Originally appeared in the All About Families Newsletter.