An Island Surprise

My husband is very good to me. I love his heart for giving and his constant goal to take care of me well and spoil me. He goes above and beyond! He's not trying to outdo anyone but he hopes other men will be inspired to love on their wives the same. I love that. 

Right before Christmas he shared with me that we were going away for a weekend on a marriage retreat with some good friends. Shortly thereafter, I realized it was the same weekend as an annual ministry moment my mom and I have participated in the last 4 years. I kindly asked him to move the weekend. He said he couldn't. That didn't make sense to me because I knew the marriage retreat people were flexible (these are private retreats at their home). So after a few days of pressing, he caved. Our friends came over and the husbands declared they were actually taking us to Antigua, West Indies for 5 days in January. Seriously!? This is why he couldn't move the dates. They set up the airline, lodging and the caretaking of children for while we were away. They also prepared questions to reflect on 2018 and consider what God had in store for 2019, so our conversation was intentional and purposeful. I love that. At the initial news, I was shocked and excited and fighting guilt at the same time. I knew that a break from the tiny humans I'm in charge of was needed, but that mom guilt is a strong force. And my parents! Would they still like their grandchildren after this? 

Well, my fears were unnecessary, of course, because it is OK to take time away to be with your husband, reconnect and refocus. And the kids did well (so they told me). 

Here are some pictures from our very fabulous 5 days. It was refreshing, relaxing and intentional. We enjoyed several evenings outside with live music and conversations about God, where He's leading each of our families, how we want to parent better and differently, what our wins have been and where we are still struggling. It was so good, y'all! And what a gift to have friends and folks that hold us accountable and call us out for these things we talked about. Not always easy, but very fruitful and necessary if we know we need to change or really want to meet a goal. 

We each had a small villa with a porch overlooking tropical green and the bright blue sea. 

Cocobay Resort. 

Our first full day, we took our one and only excursion outside of the small resort. We enjoyed a 6 hour private charter on a catamaran complete with sailing, snorkeling and delicious food!

Relaxed. Completely. 

Check out these full face snorkels. I never quite got used to it but they were better than a regular snorkel. 

Cassie and I sailing on Catch the Cat catamaran. 

Love this guy. 

Check out the rainbow. We saw several of these beauties on our sailing adventure. 

So pretty. Notice the yachts in the background. There were a lot of these around. For a mere half a million + you could rent your own for a week (a week! Insanity.).

Going to dinner. 

The view from the resort's beach. 

This is part of the resort. The restaurant we ate in for every meal was outside and overlooking the water. 

A beautiful sunset. 

Such a treat to view this every day. 

From our favorite table in the restaurant, we could see the infinity pool and the lovely water. 

So thankful for our time in Antigua and our time together.