A beauty of a weekend

Every so often, Lee and I like to get away, just the two of us, no other distractions. So we left home on Friday afternoon, checked into a hotel, and spent the weekend together.

A dusky view from our dining table on Friday evening, looking toward home...

We ate good food at nice restaurants, saw a play at the Citadel, slept late, did a bit of shopping, bought a picnic lunch, went for a hike around Neon Lake, he did a crossword while I finished reading my latest favourite book (a review is in the works), had a late supper, and watched Lincoln. This morning we grabbed breakfast at Tim's, went to church, and came home to our girls.

Henri Nouwen, one of my favourite spiritual writers says,

Intimacy between people requires closeness as well as distance. It is like dancing. Sometimes we are very close, touching each other or holding each other; sometimes we move away from each other and let the space between us become an area where we can freely move.

To keep the right balance between closeness and distance requires hard work, especially since the needs of the partners may be quite different at a given moment. One might desire closeness while the other wants distance. One might want to be held while the other looks for independence. A perfect balance seldom occurs, but the honest and open search for that balance can give birth to a beautiful dance, worthy to behold.

-- Bread for the Journey, February 22

In my books, this weekend was a beautiful dance. It's good to get away from the usual and just focus on each other once in a while, to remember exactly why we're together for life. I felt God smiling on me all weekend!