I’m a busy man. I have one wife and six daughters. I am a pastor of a new church. I work a second at the hospital. There’s more, but 7 ladies and 2 jobs… that’s enough to make the point.

I’m not a perfect dad. I get mad sometimes. I say stupid things with too loud of a voice sometimes. Sometimes I miss opportunities to show love to my ladies. I could go on and on… but again… you get the point.

One thing I do get right though is this… I date my daughters… five of them… every week (the sixth is 9 months old so we don’t do dates yet… but soon).

It’s amazing but somehow one date has the power to eliminate lots of goofs! It is such an important tool for parents that I want to reflect on it a little bit with you.

A few thoughts about dating your daughter (or son):

• It doesn’t take much. We budget $1 per date. One frosty from Wendy’s costs $1.08 (so I have to foot $.08 from my change jar). The library is free. So is the park… and a lot of other things. Sometimes I take them to the mall or the dollar store so they can buy something with their money.

• It doesn’t take long. We take one hour per week. It’s amazing how much can happen in one hour when you shut down your phone and focus on your daughter! Sometimes we cheat and go longer.

• It doesn’t seem like much today. It will be invaluable when they start dating a pick a husband. Someday some boy is going to come along and tell her she’s beautiful. She won’t be overwhelmed because she’s heard that a million times from me. Someday some boy is going to try to impress her… he’d better be good because I do things like open the doors for my ladies and teach them to expect that from the boys they date. In short, our dates are getting them ready to pick a man.

Dating your daughter (or your son) is so important that it’s worth telling other people and activities “No.” It’s worth putting on your calendar every week. It’s worth whatever it takes to make it happen!

Don’t let money or time or distorted perceptions rob you and your daughter (or son) of this incredible gift!

By the way, this was my date last Saturday! (We split a frosty and read a book about princesses… and giggled a LOT!)