Weekly Impressions - Time at Home

My husband and I really enjoy spending time with people.  This is important - and fun - but we have found that it has gotten a little out of hand in relation to the amount of time that we spend with just each other.  We live 25 minutes out of town and 45 minutes away from our church, so it’s a matter of logistics (and indulgence) that we don’t spend much time at home.

We made a decision to go straight home after my work (and for me to get off an hour earlier) on Mondays and Wednesdays.  This means that we’ll have to (*gasp*) cook our own dinner those nights instead of eating my mother-in-law’s yummy cooking right after work, and that we won’t have anyone else to help us take care of my year-old son during that time.  I’ll admit that the prospect of going home after work has been a little daunting to me for awhile primarily for those two reasons.  However, we did just that this past week, and it was lovely!  

I haven’t fully felt as though we are our own family.  We spend so much time with his family or with other people that we seem to be more of an extension.  This past week I got a taste of what it feels like to have my own little immediate family of three.  I also feel like I’m actually living out of my own home rather than moving my things from place to place to get bills, etc. taken care of.  Even though I have the added stress of cooking and no help with my child, the decreased stress from the above two issues more than makes up for it.

It helps, too, that my expectations in regard to cooking have taken on a rather more practical and realistic tone since I first married my husband seven years ago.  I thought then that I would be cooking full home-cooked meals every night for my family.  I have found that this lifestyle that I expected doesn’t fall in with who we are as a couple, nor with my particular abilities.  (Not to say that I don’t ever cook a full meal...)  This realization relieves quite a bit of pressure.  Neither of us expects some great dinner - and that’s just fine - because having a great dinner isn’t the point of coming home.

God drove us toward this decision to stay home, and has really opened a new chapter in our lives with it.  My husband and I have more opportunity to grow closer and to understand one another better.  Knowing each other better makes me more thankful to God for the gift of my husband.  It also points out to me the importance of relationship - and that I don’t give God enough time in my relationship with Him.  It is something that must be prioritized - no matter the stress it may impose - because the stress that it will relieve will outweigh any possible stress created.

Who do you spend your time with?