What are the hobbies or activities that you enjoy doing as a couple? (Week 4)

October 30, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment
Filed under: 50 fridays, Marriage

People are often enamored with my Super Bowl ring. But it’s my wedding ring that I’m most proud of. And having a good marriage takes even more work than winning a Super Bowl. –Trent Dilfer, Former NFL Quarterback

What are the hobbies or activities that you enjoy doing as a couple? What other things would you like to do together?

My wife, Lora, spoke some of the most incredible words to me this past Saturday that I’ve ever heard in our 22 years of marriage. Let me set the scene: It was another rainy day in middle Tennessee, sometime around 3:00pm in the afternoon. The television had been on since 9:00am–after all, that’s when College Game Day starts! In my humble opinion, fall Saturdays were created for the purpose of watching college football (that is, when you’re not actually at a game!).

Enter Lora. She had been out for most of the morning and came home to find me in pretty much the same place I had been when she left—in front of the TV watching football flanked by two of my sons. It was at that moment that she spoke these amazing words, “I like having football games on the television. It’s fun to see you guys watching the game.” WOW! What a moment. Never such intimacy and connection between a man and a woman. I mean, she was speaking my love language in a profound way. I thought to myself, “I think we’ve finally found a hobby! I’ll watch college football with our sons, and Lora can watch us watching it!”

That’s not exactly how hobbies work. However, developing shared hobbies can really be an asset for any marriage. When we discover something that we enjoy together, that activity can provide a unique place for connection, fun, and memory building.

When you think of a hobby, it doesn’t have to require a great amount of money. It could be anything: walking, biking, hiking, cooking, gardening, dancing, golf, tennis, bowling, traveling, eating out, playing games, watching football (whoops). The list is limitless. The key is to find something that you both enjoy and then take the time to do it together.

Marriage certainly has a lot of hard work moments in it—rightly so. But there also can be a lot of fun and playful moments when you discover and enjoy a hobby with each other.

The Book of Ecclesiastes is filled with wisdom about the folly and brevity of this life. Time and time again, Solomon says that this life is fleeting and so much of what we do is vain and unimportant. And yet, in the middle of Chapter 9, Solomon encourages us to enjoy life with the one you love. As you’re thinking about ways to enjoy time with each other this week, read Solomon’s words of encouragement in Ecclesiastes 9:7-9 in a few different translations. And then, look for ways to enjoy life together.

Jeff Helton
Marriage and Family Pastor
+ Fellowship Bible Church
+ 50 Fridays Challenge