Even though we’re having a mild Autumn, I know winter is just a breath away. Soon I’ll need to drag the winter boot bucket up from the storage space and make sure all the mittens have a match.  I’m not looking forward to runny noses and frizzy hair, and that’s from me – not the kids! Winter in Canada is cold and long! As much as snow is pretty… when it goes on for 6-7 months… it’s not something I look forward to.

But instead of being the awesome, proactive super-mom, getting all the winter gear together, I spent the day reorganizing the photo albums on my laptop (in between vacuuming, laundry, cleaning toilets & doing dishes of course. lol).

I came across pictures from the Cruise my husband and I went on — without the kids — through the Caribbean this past March. Yes, I found myself longing for somewhere warm to escape to but more importantly… memories of a romantic getaway came flooding back.

That was a well needed time together. We were in such a dark place with all the crazy going on in our lives. We had not yet properly grieved Dad’s death because of all the stress his estranged wife had put us through (and still is) and things at the church, between renovations & trying to help others who were struggling, added to the pressure. Our shoulders couldn’t hold much more, we were doing all we could just to survive.

Good friends of ours told us to take some time off and get away. I have to admit, I wasn’t too receptive at first.  As they were telling us this, my mind was racing with all the things I would need to get done before we left, let alone finding someone to take all four of our children!

I knew we needed to reconnect with each other. To remember why we got married in the first place. To focus on us, as husband and wife, and not just mom and dad and definitely more than just roommates.  I’m glad we did it.

We’re still not back to 100% but we are getting there.  

No matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.

If I had one piece of advice to give to you it would be this… invest in love. We are nothing without it.

“Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
Love doesn’t strut,
Doesn’t have a swelled head,
Doesn’t force itself on others,
Isn’t always “me first,”
Doesn’t fly off the handle,
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.
Love never dies.” ~ 1 Corinthians 13:4-8