Don't Forget to Date Your Wife

After a summer break, I am personally recharged and back with lots of new, interesting stories for my weekly men’s devotional.

Most of us are counting the hours until the opening kickoff of professional football next week. Dallas Cowboys fans are pinning their hopes on new coach Wade Phillips. Phillips brings over twenty years of NFL coaching experience to the Cowboys. He also brings something else, an understanding and appreciation of the importance of family.

Hours after being hired as the Cowboys head coach, one reporter asked Phillips how he felt about public sentiment that he is not a sexy hire. "Well," the 59-year-old coach chuckled, "I don't know if my wife would say that."

In a February interview with the Dallas Morning News, Phillips mentioned that throughout his coaching career, he has maintained a standing date night with his wife. Every Friday night he takes Laurie out on a date. He stated that he learned the importance of maintaining a strong marriage after watching his father, legendary coach “Bum” Phillips, spend time with his mother.

In making his marriage a priority, Phillips is providing a great example for his coaches, players, fans and especially, his children. As a successful coach, Phillips understands that winning games requires time, energy and hard work. Being an effective husband and father is not so different. A marriage is too important to take for granted. It must be fed, nurtured and protected.

Ephesians 5 reminds us, “So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it …” Perhaps it is time to take an inventory on your commitment to your marriage. Take a tip from Wade Phillips and start dating again. Oh, and “Go Cowboys!”

Shoulder to shoulder,

Gregg