Allow Me Time for a Soapbox

It’s somewhat of a soapbox of mine to encourage married couples to take time away…every year…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.

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.