How does life just get so busy?

Some days it feels as if there's just not even enough time to breathe and then as I'm falling asleep at night I'm already gearing up for another day of the madness...But the bad part is I've become so accustomed to the busyness that I freak out at the prospect of having nothing to do!

This happened to be one of those odd weeks where we've had two totally free nights in a row...

Wednesday night we both got home after work, cooked dinner together and then actually sat down at the table to enjoy it! Afterwards, with the kitchen already clean, we relocated to the living room and watched a movie...(A very sad and depressing movie might I add!)

Then Thursday afternoon, after having the previous night free, I began my normal freak-out process at the mere thought of having a SECOND night in a row with nothing to do...While driving home I started getting worked up over all the things that just "had to be done" as soon as I walked in the door...Light a candle, pay bills, start laundry, etc...Guess this was just my response mechanism to convince myself that this couldn't possibly be ANOTHER low-key evening...One would seem to think that I would be overjoyed at the idea of no commitments for the evening, but on the heals of the Wednesday night it was just more than I could handle!

Needless to say, I was quite frustrated by the time I actually finished my few little things around the house...I mean, I was done within 45 minutes! Now what??

It was at that point that I finally realized it..."Embrace it"...Embrace the freedom of being a young couple with no children...Embrace the joy of a night at home with the one person I enjoy being with most...Embrace the time we have now before the insanity and busyness catches right back up with us...Embrace it.

And so we did...

I'm not sure I've ever realized how amazingly wonderful a candlelit bubblebath and a massage can be...Or how nice it can be to just lay in our bedroom with the candlelight bouncing off the walls...Not talking...And especially not thinking...

For the first time in a long time, my mind was completely clear...No thoughts of my parents, no thoughts of student ministry, no thoughts of work...No thoughts at all...Just a calm, quiet, relaxing, peace...

But as nice as our time was, I couldn't help but realize that just a few feet away was reality...Just through the doorway was our cell phones which had been ringing nonstop...And through this doorway was the TV which would soon be showing "Lost"...And also through this doorway was the laundry that needed to go in the dryer...

Life...Regular, ordinary life was through that one doorway...

Our life...A life that I wouldn't I trade...The good, the bad, the stressful, and the sometimes peaceful all rolled into one...And for once, knowing that the next weeks are going to be tough, I was extremely thankful to be able to experince

the peaceful side of our life...