My wife Dawn and I recently spent a weekend away in the White Mountains of Arizona.  The weekend away with her reminded me of many things:

• I love to preach, but every once in a long while, I love a week off from preaching.  I am positive that it improves my preaching ministry.
• I love my kids, but every once in a while, I enjoy a weekend without kids.  It probably improves my parenting and gives me a fresh perspective on family issues.  It also demonstrates to my children my deep love for their mom.
• My kids love me, but every once in a while, they don’t seem to mind a weekend away from Dad.  (I might even say that they seem to enjoy it!)  A weekend away from mom is a little bit more of a challenge for them, but they survive and even learn to do things for themselves.
• I love my wife, and a weekend away with her deepens my love for her and reminds me that she is more than my wife.  She is also my best friend.
• I love Arizona.  There are still a few portions of it I haven’t seen, but every time I travel Arizona, I see something I haven’t seen before.  This trip, for example, I visited Whiteriver (and the nearby Kinishba ruins) and I visited the little town of Young in Pleasant Valley.
• I enjoy talking with my wife.  She is quiet enough to give me a chance to think out loud, perceptive enough to ask the important questions, intelligent enough to hold a conversation on things both important and trivial, wise enough to offer great insight, and witty enough to make it fun. 
• I like listening to baseball on the radio.  In some ways, it’s better than TV.  (I warned you that this blog was random!)
• I also love seeing random things like a Texas Longhorn.  I liked it enough to turn around, pull off the road, climb down a short hill, and take a picture!

I’m a preacher, so let me close this blog with a preaching point.  It is a good great thing to take a few days off occasionally with your spouse.  And if you happen to miss church when you do so (occasionally, of course), your pastor will most likely understand!