Time for My Annual Soapbox

Some of you read the title, and you know exactly what I’m going to talk about. Because just about every year, I take time to encourage married couples to take time away (annually) without the kids. If you’ve been reading LeadingSmart.com for long—you may be tired of me talking about it. But I keep repeating myself because I see so few couples actually doing it.

So, why haven’t you scheduled your time away with your spouse yet?

Don’t blame it on money – there are cheap ways to vacation. In our first few years of marriage (when our income put us right at the official poverty level), we committed to time away and left it in God’s hands. More than once, someone came along and said, “Hey, we have a timeshare you can use if you want…” and we had a great vacation for the cost of getting there.

Don’t blame it on time – you’ll never have enough for it to make sense. Just decide what is important to you (answer: your marriage) and get it on the schedule.

Don’t blame it on the kids – the greatest way to show your kids how valuable they are to you is to take time for each other. Work with another couple who is also committed to time away, and watch each others’ kids.

Don’t blame it on your job – are you still waiting until the work slows down? Or until you finish the big project? Or until you get the promotion and have more vacation days available? Wait long enough, and you might have a great job and no marriage. If you sincerely can’t get time off work–then plan a couple extended weekends.

Someone reading this has been thinking about planning time away with your spouse…you just haven’t pulled the trigger. Wait no longer—schedule it now. Then drop me a note, I’d love to hear about it.

And if you wonder why I’m writing about this today, it’s because I’m currently on plane with my wife heading to a land far away. It’s just the two of us–and we get a whole week with nothing but each other. This is my favorite week of the year–the only week when I shut off the outside world and do nothing but life with my wife. See you next week!

P.S. Someone is going to scold me this week because I’m still blogging. Save it–I’ve written these ahead of time and scheduled them to post in my absence.