Family Dates are Great!

You’ve heard me talk about love languages before and how important they are on family life. When you invest time and even some money into the relationship of family-you get family dates!

Family dates are a great way for all 8 of us to do something worthwhile together, each of us giving and receiving all 5 languages of love. It’s a very efficient way to fill up the family’s love tank and helps us all feel like a needed and wanted part of the Halbach Family.

Today started with a gym workout. This one touched on acts of service as working out is a less enjoyable but much needed task for the fam’s health. The twins went to the daycare while the older four lifted down weights and ran/walked on the treadmill and finished with some racketball. We would all give one another fist bumps and high fives, encouraging one another to keep up the good work (Physical Touch).

Matt and I did our workouts like usual, but there was something very unitive about all 8 of us walking through the gym doors, knowing we were investing in our health together.

Matt and I decided to take them all out to Chick-Fil-A after, something we do not do often because with a large family, even fast food gets crazy expensive.

But we’ve found that family time out is a worthy investment of time and money. Sure, we could have lunch and home and save money, but there is something about spending money on family, saying with gifts of chicken and chick-fil-a sauce, “you all are worth what this costs.” (Gift-Giving)

Gestures like this are not lost on our kids. They know because of our large family that we can’t afford anything we want. They know going out to eat costs money. They know large families going out to eat costs a lot of money. And they know their parents know it’s worth it, a gesture of love especially for those who “speak” gift giving as their love language like Ben.

During lunch, I sat with the younger three and Matt sat with the older three. The boys discussed movies, shows, how their Fall has been going (Quality Time) while the three youngest and I discussed our rose (something good) and thorn (something bad) about our days.

Later at home, we had all the kids sit together and we told each of the kids why we were proud of them, each of us giving them a reason we were proud. The look on their faces and watching their chests puff with pride was priceless (Words of Affirmation).

I feel so proud to be a Halbach. Our kids seem to think the same thing. There has been so much peace today and love tends to overflow. For example Joy is now cleaning on her own because she knows we like it.

Do you have family dates? If not, what's stopping you? For bonus points, try to hit on each language of love.

Your challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to take your family on a date! Then tell me how it goes! Have fun!