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Spending Time With Your Family

Today, I want to take the time to encourage you to spend time with your family and work on those relationships. Too often we get caught up with work responsibilities, church responsibilities, and even responsibilities at home. We are so focused on what we need to do that we often lose sight of what we want to do.

I am currently sitting one state over from my home, less than two hours away. Even at such a small trip I am enjoying being with my two favorite people. I feel like we grow the most as a family when we are able to remove the “work” from it. As a teacher obviously I am home during the summer. Periodically my husband will be off of work and we will have a day at home together. Usually that is a time to catch up on housework and things that require us to work together, it is not always an opportunity for us to relax and just enjoy each other’s company.

Now, I am not saying that vacation’s are the end all be all in a marriage or relationship. But there is something about being relaxed together and letting your guard down that provides an opportunity for you to grow together. Being out in a new city, neither one of us is familiar with requires us to trust each other. I have to trust that he is not intentionally trying to get us in a crash (he always does the driving) and he has to trust that I am giving him good directions.

Seeing other families together provides talking points for how we’d like to raise our family. We just came from the hotel breakfast and there were two boys playing with the displays. I was amazed at how long it was before either of their parents noticed. We were able to discuss what we would do if we ever were in a similar situation.

I know that overnight vacations are not always in the budget, but there are some alternatives. Doing a day trip to a nearby city that you’ve never explored is a good one. When we were dating we took trips to Historic Ellicott City, Downtown Baltimore, and even Washington D.C. These types of places all give you the feeling of being a tourist in your own backyard. The point is, spend time together away for the laundry, dishes, yard work, and other responsibilities of home. Enjoy your summer!

Martina