What's your couple thing?

It’s 5:00 a.m. and we are on our way to the airport.  Kevin is driving and I am sitting in the passenger seat in my traveling gear: leggings and a hoodie.  I look behind me and the car seats are empty.  We are heading to the airport sans kids for an adults-only beach vacation.  I literally have a purse for a carry on and a small suitcase, not my three large suitcases, backpack, and double stroller that I’m usually toting to the security line; as well as my two littles.

We pull into the parking lot, take the shuttle to the airline door and head in.  We are calm, collected, and get through security in plenty of time to grab a coffee and breakfast and hang at our gate for a good hour before our flight leaves.

Once every year or two Kevin and I head south and leave our babies with their grandparents.  Traveling has always been our couple thing and we have tried to protect that even in this season of raising toddlers.  It’s not always easy, but it’s always worth it. 

This past February we headed to Turks & Caicos for five days.  It was five days of reading on the beach and four nights of dining at non kid-friendly restaurants.  We tried to sleep in, but mostly woke up when our faces felt a glimpse of sunshine.  We strived to stay up late, but usually fell into a deep sleep before the bands started playing on the beach.  We set out to go on some adventures, but sat on the beach most days with books in our hands and sunscreen on our relaxed bodies.

It didn’t matter what we did or didn’t do, what mattered is that we were together.  We were able to connect in a way that isn’t quite possible when Luke is asking for more milk at dinner or Lily is dropping pieces of half-chewed bread on the floor.  We sat together, read together, chatted about anything and everything, and got on the same page again.  It makes my body relax just thinking back to this winter and that trip with my sweet husband.

Traveling is our couple thing.  It’s what reunites us, energizes us, brings us closer, keeps us on the same page, and makes our marriage thrive.  Kevin and I knowing that an adults-only vacation is on the calendar gets us through those hard, beautiful, exhausting days of raising our babies. 

Maybe traveling isn’t your couple thing, but what is?  What do you love to do together?  What brings you and your spouse closer?  What keeps you on the same page?  What helps your marriage to thrive? 

A happy marriage makes for happy kids makes for a happy family.  Our marriage is a priority for us because we know the benefits of a great marriage far outweigh the work it takes to get there and stay there.  We know it will help our kids feel safe and loved and secure. We know modeling a healthy marriage for our children will help them know how to love, honor, and respect their future spouse someday.  All of these reasons give us motivation to make time for us and remind us that our marriage relationship is the relationship that affects and helps or hurts all other relationships in our family.

I pray that you find and maintain your couple thing, whatever it may be.  Whether you are raising babies or are empty nesters…your marriage matters.

“A great marriage isn’t something that just happens, it’s something that must be created.”

-Fawn Weaver