On the 25th of June, Mark and I will be celebrating 28 years of marriage.  To celebrate, we spent last week in Florida together…just the two of us.  We decided to take that trip exactly 7 days before we left. Crazy, huh?

Spontaneity is an important part of marriage and that’s why we’re talking about it on today’s Marriage Monday.

Jill: Let me state right off the bat that I am the least spontaneous of the two of us.  I like to plan things out, think through details, and I don’t like to change my mind once I have a plan in mind.

Mark: I’m quite spontaneous.  So you can imagine my surprise when my wife actually suggested our little getaway to Florida.  You could have picked me up off the floor!

Jill: I surprised myself, too.  It just all worked out too well for us to pass up the opportunity.  My folks condo that they rent out for the summer had availability for 5 days last week, we had enough frequent flier miles on Delta to fly at no cost, we had a built-in babysitter with Erica still living with us until August while her hubby is in Iraq, and we only had two things on the calendar that we had to reschedule!  That was four green lights in my book!

Mark: Spontaneity adds a little spice to life.  It moves us out of the everyday routine and gives us permission to have some fun…change things up…and enjoy life a little more.

Jill: Spontaneity can happen in more than an unexpected little getaway.  One couple confessed quietly to us at a marriage retreat that they had had a little “afternoon delight” in their downstairs bathroom…in the middle of the day…when the kids were home!  Now that’s spontaneous!

Mark: Need some ideas?  Try one of these to change up the routine:

  • Serve breakfast in bed.
  • Eat dinner as a picnic in the back yard.
  • After the kids go to bed, play a board game together.
  • Surprise your spouse with an unexpected night out (if your partner likes surprises!) where you arrange for the childcare and determine what’s on the agenda for the night based upon what your spouse enjoys.
  • Prepare your spouse’s favorite holiday food…at a non-holiday time!  Does he/she love pumpkin pie?  Pumpkin pie in June is a treat!
  • Turn off the television one evening this week, spread a blanket in the yard, and lay out and look at the stars together.

Jill: Sometimes spontaneity does require some planning and sometimes it happens with a spur-of-the-moment decision.  Either way, it’s about injecting fun into an otherwise routine life.

What about you?  How have you added a little spontaneity to your marriage?

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