The Date Night Hack that Involved a Laundromat

As a wife and mom, my calendar is rarely empty. Between being a room parent, a PTO member, and a swim team booster mom, volunteering has become a natural part of this season of life. But there's a different kind of serving I'll never forget.

Nearly 15 years ago, my husband and I spent a year on the mission field — working daily in the jungles of Ecuador and the mountains of Eswatini. It was stretching, humbling, and deeply bonding. These days, with the demands of family life pulling us in a dozen directions, that kind of shoulder-to-shoulder service has been harder to find. But recently, we discovered we didn't have to travel to a jungle to find it again.

We started volunteering with an organization called Laundry Love — a national nonprofit with a local chapter right here in our community. The concept is beautifully simple: volunteers show up at a laundromat, feed the machines, make change, and — most importantly — sit with the people doing their laundry. Laundry Love also partners with local social services to provide vouchers for families in need. It sounds small. It isn't.

Seeing your community's needs up close has a way of quietly recalibrating your perspective. The things that felt like big deals — the small frustrations and daily tensions that creep into a marriage — suddenly look very different when you've just sat across from someone navigating something genuinely hard.

But beyond the perspective shift, what struck me most was how good it felt to serve alongside my husband again. There's something that happens when two people step outside their routine and work toward a shared mission. You use your strengths differently. You see each other differently. You come home with a story that belongs to both of you.

Serving together creates a bond that's hard to manufacture any other way. It moves you out of your comfort zone, builds teamwork, and gives your relationship something meaningful to rally around.

So here's my question for you: Where could you and your spouse serve together?

It doesn't have to be across the world. Sometimes, it's just across town.