Last Updated on March 3, 2024
Girls, it’s almost Valentine’s Day. And let’s face it, a lot of our husbands think it’s a Hallmark advertising day, and it bogs them down. I want to give you with a radical idea that will let them off the hook.
My idea all started last Monday night. You see, I’ve been doing “The Love Dare” on my husband, and last Monday I had to create a romantic atmosphere for a candlelight dinner. It couldn’t have happened on a worse day … or week. My schedule was packed, but I wanted to be faithful to “The Love Dare.” It has become a personal goal to do it and do it well.
First problem, how does a woman create a romantic atmosphere with a house full of teenagers? One was already out of the house for an away basketball game. I bribed the other two by asking my older son to take his sister out for wings. They reluctantly agreed, but when I started pulling out candle sticks and a lace tablecloth, they seemed ready to run!
Second problem, how do you get your husband to come when you know his schedule is crammed as full as yours? I sent Bob a romantic text with a time-sensitive twist. “Honey, romantic dinner at 6:00. Don’t come one moment before 6:00 … or one moment after 6:00. And we only have until 7:00.” He walked in at 6:00 sharp!
Third challenge, what do you feed a man when you don’t have time to cook? At 3:00, I threw a frozen ham loaf in the oven and went back to my computer to finish up my work. At 5:45, as I was begging my kids to get out, I sauteed some green beans and mashed up some red potatoes, smothered them both in butter, and plopped them on either side of the ham loaf. My fifteen-minute meal looked good on a silver platter with a fancy serving utensils! I guess I’m saying that the food doesn’t matter much, which brings us to the …
Fourth challenge, what will you wear? Somewhere in the pages of “The Love Dare,” I believe it told me to dress a little sexy. Me? Sexy? I’m the modesty queen. I write books about modesty and speak about it all over the country. I don’t have anything sexy to wear. Cute? Yes. Fashionable? Oh, yes! Sexy? No. I ran upstairs (while the green beans were on low heat) and threw on a blouse that I normally wear with a tank top underneath. It looked to be a little lower cut, so that’d do. When I came down to check on the green beans, I realized that my blouse was also entirely see-through. Entirely! (That must be why I wear it with a tank.) I thought, I can’t wear this! But as I began to run upstairs with the clock ticking away, I thought, I so can wear this! And I did. Dannah Gresh, the modesty queen, wore a sexy shirt for her husband!
Like something out of a movie, I threw the platter of food on the table just as I heard Bob open the front door. Then, I fluffed my hair and acted all casual like I’d been waiting for him for hours. It took a few minutes for us to unwind from the chaos, but not too long. Before long we were romancing each other. Love talk. Remembering when we met. Thinking about when we first said, “I love you.” It was an amazing night. (Okay, it was an amazing hour.) Soon, the kids were texting, “Are you done yet?” My little basketball player texted, “I know Robby and Lexi are gone, but this one’s coming home like it or not.” It didn’t matter. By then, we were a little drunk with love that would last all week long.
What I’m saying is this: Girls, you don’t have to let him do all the work all the time. Sometimes it’s a great blessing to your busy husband to be the one who makes the dinner reservations or romantic overtures. Why not? Let him off the hook this Valentine’s Day by surprising him a few days before with a romantic getaway in your own home! And don’t forget the sexy shirt.
Dannah Gresh is a best-selling author and the creator of Secret Keeper Girl. Best-known for And the Bride Wore White and Lies Young Women Believe (co-written with Nancy Leigh DeMoss), Dannah is a gifted communicator whose ministry focus is coaching moms to be great connectors to their tween and teen children. She and her husband Bob are left to run a menagerie of animals on a hobby farm since her three young adult children have flown the coop. Her happiest times are when all the chicks are back in the nest.