July 25, 2011  

Time to Dream, Discuss, and Plan

Early on in our marriage, we were given counsel that we need to regularly get away by ourselves, without kids. We started this habit from the outset, and have tried to make it a 2-night get-away every year. Not only was it always a good chance to rest and relax, but we also took the time to discuss, dream, and plan.

Usually we did this “retreat” in December or January, but with how crazy life was as began to transition to Allendale, we missed our opportunity. So, we were glad to have the opportunity to get away this past weekend, in Savannah.

With our in-house babysitter, Hannah Swoap, willing to keep our kids, we were gone from Friday afternoon to Sunday afternoon. The weekend was everything we were looking for:

  1. Sufficient rest. I think I got 8 hours each night, which is the most I’ve gotten in a long time.
  2. Great food. Which means that we ate out at places that didn’t include fried chicken or kids’ meals.
  3. Lots of time together. We had two hours in the car each way, walked all over downtown Savannah, went in at least 10 art stores, and had adult conversations at meals. We had a list of topics to cover, and we discussed them all.

For the record, here are the general things that we talked about:

Savannah Cotton Exchange
    1. Our budget and financial situation
    2. Putting together an advisory team
    3. Remembering the past couple of years, of how God prepared us to be where we are now
    4. The big challenges we foresee for our own children over the next year
    5. Where we see our family in the near future — the next 1, 3, and 5 years
    6. What we can do to better equip other parents, especially in Allendale

Some of these things I plan to share more about in the future. I’m a slow (but deep) processor, so it may take me some time to get it worked out in my head.

If you are married, I hope that you are able to get away regularly, not just to rest, but to dream, discuss, and plan.

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