The spontaneity of a marriage relationship is supposed to die when a baby comes along. The demands of child rearing don't leave room for weekend getaways and late nights out. Bringing a child into the world is a life-changing event, but we've found that the spontaneity is still possible, only it requires a babysitter, and just a little preparation.
Recently, we wanted to see Ron Pope when he was in town but it was a Thursday night, and we had a small group meeting at our house that same night. With a 9 month old baby, and other commitments, we had a million reasons not to go, and we almost didn't. At the last minute we decided to send Madelyn home with Nana, grab a quick dinner, facilitate our small group, then hit the road around 9:00 p.m. We rushed to Midtown hoping we didn't miss a single song, and we got there with plenty of time to spare, even surprising my sister Laurie by showing up! After the show, which was incredible, we headed back to Nana's to pick up our sleeping girl, then arrived home around 1:30 a.m. The next day we were both spent, but we were grinning ear to ear. We were so happy that we took the opportunity to spend a night dancing to some of our favorite songs, and relishing in the moment.
Another recent jaunt found the two of us in St. Pete Beach for a friend's wedding. While this trip did require some planning and wasn't completely spontaneous, it did provide the opportunity for plenty of impulsive behavior - wandering to a neighboring hotel bar late at night, finding the local breakfast hotspot, barely making it to the wedding on time because we were determined to stay at the beachside bar as long as possible. We found ourselves lost in great moments, continuing to make memories that we'll laugh about for a lifetime.
Our sweet girl is only 10 months old and life will change a lot in the years ahead, but hopefully we can always hold onto a small piece of the joy and excitement that comes with being carelessly spontaneous.
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