It's time to get away

Prior to our son being born, everyone told us that we had to make time for our marriage.  I couldn’t imagine having a problem with wanting to spend time with just Steve, as we had spent the last several years together, developing an incredible best friendship!  Being homebody’s at heart, it made it easy for he and I to want to spend time with one another which resulted in a marriage that, although I won’t claim it’s perfection, remains very strong in the midst of an ever-changing world around us!

July 23^rd, 2010, enter Caleb and oh my goodness, everything has changed!  Caleb, although we ADORE having him around, requires our full attention and so dinner discussions of “How we want to change our world” and “How God is clearly working in our lives” has now changed to “How cute Caleb was when..” or “what are we going to do to entertain Caleb once he’s finished eating.”  We have to be incredibly intentional in order to spend time with one another talking about things other than that sweet little smile.

Taking the advice we were given pre-Caleb, we made a commitment, several months ago, to choose our marriage.  We booked a cruise get-away, cashed in our “points” to make airline reservations, and headed south to enjoy a few days away. I went early to spend a few days with Caleb, making sure that my heart was comforted knowing that he was going to be well cared for.  Then Steve arrived; we dropped Caleb off in capable hands, and headed out. 

Being a first-time mom, and the first time we left my baby for any extended period of time, I’m not going to say it was easy to drive off.  However, I knew in the back of my heart, it was necessary, knowing that my marriage depended on it.  Steve and I sailed away, and spent the next several days returning to our roots and treasuring our time spent together!  We dreamed together, talked about future plans, and loved our uninterrupted time talking about our Big God and the great things He has done in our lives!  The 4 days flew by, and before I knew it we were driving back across the state to reunite with my baby boy.

Our reunion was sweet, but the confirmation in my heart, knowing we had made the right decision was even sweeter!  Marriages across our nation our failing by the hundreds, and although I’m no expert, I believe it’s because in the busyness that we all struggle to balance, we’re allowing this important element to get pushed aside.  That “loving’ feeling” we all had in our dating days is getting replaced by honey-do lists, and dinner drive-thru’s.

Steve and I have made the commitment to “choose our marriage” above anything else that we can place on our calendar.  That means we have to say “no” sometimes, to things we love, and “yes” to time away.

What about you?  When was the last time that you chose your spouse? Have you two been able to get away, recently, and commit valuable, uninterrupted time to your marriage?  Why don’t you try putting something on the calendar today?  I promise you’ll be glad you did.