A Time for refreshing...

Valentine's Day is always a time of celebration at our house. Not only because it is a time to outwardly express the inward emotions that sometimes get overrun by everyday life, but also because the preceding day is one of great importance. February 13th... Candi's birthday!!
Thanks to two of our amazing students, Maggie and Betsy Cannon, we were able to have almost the entire weekend to ourselves!! We got a Hotel for Friday and Saturday night and though it may not have been the fanciest place ever, it certainly felt like a resort retreat to us! It becomes more and more apparent that time without our kids is not only healthy, its a necessity... How else would we remember that we have other names besides "Mommy" and "Daddy"?
We spent Friday night and the first part of Saturday attending "Ignite" a marriage conference put on by our church. ( www.desertspringschurch.com ) It was a good time of being reminded of what's important and challenged to relate and communicate in an unselfish sacrificial way that will ultimately bring us closer to God and each other. One of the many challenges that I took away from our time at the conference was when one of the speakers challenged us that our wife's smile is one of the greatest indicators of our spiritual health as the leader of our marriage... Wow, gut check!
Saturday following the conference we had the opportunity to go to lunch with two couples who are good friends of ours. Before we knew it, the restaraunt had become our own mini conference as we talked over challenges we face in our marriages. What a blessing it is to have friends that we can be real with and share the joys and the struggles of life with! Saturday evening Candi and I enjoyed dinner at a great little Thai restaraunt called Latitude Eight in downtown Chandler. After dinner we wandered around the area until we found a cute little place with live music and AMAZING desserts called The Urban Tea Loft. Sunday we slept in... can I just say that again? WE SLEPT IN... Never realized how rare that would become! We then had brunch at a nice restaraunt called The Cork where they even personalized our menus with a Happy Birthday Candi message at the top!!
It was a great weekend that reminided us both of the importance of getting "away" together. As I think over the weekend I can't help but realize how blessed I feel to have such an amazing wife. Candi has been the best friend I have ever known and continues to be my biggest challenger/encourager in every stage of life. After times like this past weekend I feel I'm getting closer and closer to truly understanding what God meant by "He who finds a wife finds a good thing."... I think I may have found the BEST thing. I mean... I'm just sayin... :)