I am the proud father of four beautiful children. I am in the beginning stages of parenting and am praying God will give me wisdom as my wife and I seek to rear our children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. We truly desire to build a household of faith!
When my wife and I first began having children, Pastor Clint Caviness became a huge mentor of mine in the area of family. One of the things he challenged me to do from the beginning was to have a time with each of my children alone each week. These moments have become some of the most anticipated of my week. For years now, I have dated each of my girls every week. God has blessed my wife and me with three girls and one boy. As I take my girls out, I was taught that the two most important things I can accomplish are to convince them that I love them and that they are special to me. I don’t remember a date where I have not emphasized those two things. My son must be convinced I love him and that he can do anything.
Pastor Caviness once gave me a list of ideas for weekly dates. I have visited this list many times and wanted to share it with you in the hopes it would encourage you that you can make this a weekly part of your life.
- Ice Cream
- Root beer float
- Donut shop
- Play catch for 25 minutes
- Shoot baskets for 25 minutes
- Play video game for 25 minutes
- Build something together (me-box, shield, ship, tinker toys, etc.)
- Bake something
- Miniature golf
- Bowling
- High school sporting event ( football, baseball, basketball, volleyball, wrestling)
- Batting cages
- Sportsman show, Gun show, Boat show
- County fair
- Ride Motorcycles/ ATV’s
- Ride Horses
- Swimming (pool, river, lake)
- Fishing
- Hunting
- Shooting
- Shopping for 1 special item
- Picnic
- Swinging in the park
- Breakfast out alone
- Coffee shop
- High school/ college concert
- High school/ college play
- Hike in woods or along river
- Board game (Scrabble, Uno, Trouble, etc.)
- Wrestle time
- Game time (keep away, hot box, spoons, etc.)
- Manhood lessons
- Driving lessons
- Explore in the woods
- Work on the car together
- Take treat to a shut-in
- Secret giving
- Walk (in the rain, in the dark, in the neighborhood, in the mall, etc.)
- Mattress in the yard or lay on trampoline/ look at clouds/ stars
- Water balloon fight
- Rodeo
- Soft air war
- Climbing
- Rollerblading
- Skating
- Tennis
- Ping Pong, Pool, Foosball, Air Hockey
- Photo shoot
- Buy new pair of shoes
- One item in sporting goods store
- Shop for used car
- Drive in the country
- Wild Life Safari
- Tubing/ Skiing
- Snow cones
- Select, purchase, download good music online
- Trip to the snow
- BeBe, Air Rifle, Marksman shoot-off
- Golf
- Create a new dish/ dessert
- Buy her a new piece of jewelry
- Manicure/pedicure
- Starbucks
- Bike ride
- Visit a play area at a fast food restaurant
Not all of these will work for everyone, but this list might get your mind thinking about what you could do. By developing a list of 52, you will have one for each week. I promise you will never regret one moment spent with your children and if you make this discipline of a weekly alone time part of your parenting strategy, it will pay off unbelievably!
