Christmas is a great time to bond with people that matter to our lives. For married couples, who would that be but our spouses!

The Christmas season brings so many opportunities for us to bond with our beloved spouses. Work is placed on hold (for many of us), Christmas attractions are all around, and many Christmas activities are being held in the office, in the church, the community and the home. Couples with kids have a bonus, too – the kids are taking a break from school and are able to spend time with their parents.

That said, we should all grab the opportunity to bond with our spouses. Some of us worry about the best way to do that, but there’s no need to worry. The place and the setting really don’t matter as much as the quality of time spent with each other, which means we can just bond with our beloved spouses in any way we can.

To help you with that, here are some great Christmas bonding ideas that you can do with your spouse.

1) Take a Christmas vacation

When people think of “taking a Christmas vacation,” many automatically think “how much?” or “we don’t have money to spend.” Actually, there’s no need to spend much. All that’s needed is to take a break from work and other things in order to spend good quality time with each other.

If you have the resources for it, go on a short Christmas trip somewhere your spouse longs to go to. If you don’t have the money for it, then choose to make your time worthwhile and memorable. Set up a fancy dinner at home. Cook your spouse’s favorite dish (a big plus for all husbands out there).

Whatever you do, make sure to spend good quality time with your spouse. It’s not in the money you have, but in the love you share (see Ephesians 5:22-33). Think of Joseph and Mary: there was no room for them in an inn, but they did find some lodging, and they made the most of it. (see Luke 2:1-20)

2) Choose a meaningful gift

This may sound obvious but don’t give your spouse just anything because you left your Christmas shopping to the last minute and only had one hour to run around the shops before closing time. 

When you choose a gift for your spouse, make sure that you choose something precious and valuable. It doesn’t have to be expensive, but it should be important and convey your love for them.

To help you choose, think of your spouse’s longings. Does she love God? If yes, a brand-new Bible in her favorite color or version might do the trick. Does she love cooking or baking? Then a nice accessory for the kitchen like that mixer she’s been eyeing up in Walmart since forever will probably do the trick. Whatever your spouse likes or longs for, take mental notes throughout the year and then surprise her with it at Christmas – it will mean the world to her that you noticed.

God gave us the precious, priceless gift of His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ (see John 3:16).  It wasn’t a last minute idea or a rush job. Get the idea, guys?

3) Prepare Christmas dinner together

This is my favorite. Couples can prepare a wonderful Christmas dinner together, especially if the in-laws are coming. And this can be done even if both the husband and the wife don’t know how to cook!  In fact, not knowing how to cook can make it all the more fun and an opportunity to work together. 

For those who know how to cook, do your best to help out in the kitchen by prepping the vegetables, preparing the salad and side dishes, organizing the table, pouring the drinks.  So often spouses – and let’s be honest, usually wives – can get irritated if they feel like it’s all being left to them.  So do your best to help and serve. 

If you both don’t know how to cook, then this really is a great time to experiment. Don’t worry if you fail – you can laugh at how you burned the ham and made a mess preparing the salad. As long as you don’t commit sin or make anyone sick, your kitchen disasters are not likely to be that bad.

If all else fails, take-outs and food deliveries can back you up!

Whatever you plan to do for Christmas, do it together.

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