13 Years

No children,

no tv,

no computer,

no grocery shopping.

No whining,

no arguing,

no cartoons,

no homework,

no carpool lines,

no LAUNDRY,

no phone calls,

no dog to take out,

no cooking,

no cleaning.

Am I daydreaming? No! This is what my weekend looked like. I just returned from a wonderful weekend retreat at the beach with my husband. Just me and my man.

We strolled on the beach for 3 miles. We ate dinner. We rocked in the rocking chairs on the porch facing the bay. We talked. We listened. We worshiped. We laughed. We ... well anyways, you get the idea.

Only twice did we catch ourselves saying wouldn't the kids just love this? Of course they would have loved the perfect weather, the wide open spaces and the beach; but this was about us. We were WAY overdue for a weekend away. It was great. We came back refreshed, more in love, and ready to lavish love on our kids.

Every relationship needs time to rest, refresh, and reconnect away from the daily grind. Date nights are great but there is something deeper and invaluable to having a weekend away. Time to remove ourselves from the parent/teacher/work roles and just be US.

Tomorrow we celebrate 13 years of marriage. Wow. That sounds so, um, old! Would you believe me if I said we got married when I was 15? Hmm... didn't think so.

Thirteen years full of laughter, tears, prayers, living and loving. Thank you, Lord!