...On Saying No.

This weekend we were supposed to go camping with some dear friends of ours.  The time leading up to it, we eagerly anticipated husband's schedule to see if he could get the weekend off and by a miracle, he did!  We were so excited and couldn't wait to spend another weekend in Big Sur with good people.

Then life happened.  We both had busy work weeks.  Then we had friends in town over the weekend.  Then we babysat four kids for three days straight.  Then another busy work week.

I knew husband was tired.  And not just tired, but plain exhausted.  He kept wanting to nap, which is a big sign, because he really isn't much of a napper. 

We also have plans to go out of town the following weekend.  When discussing our schedule, I could tell that husband was tired just thinking about it.  I mean, can you blame him?  He's up at 5am and doesn't get home till after 6pm usually.  He works hard. 

We haven't had time for a date night in a couple weeks; hense, the lack of "Date Night Last Night" posts, and we just needed time to ourselves.

So we decided to say no.  We decided to say no to spending time with others so that we could have time to ourselves.

It wasn't easy.  How we would love to be sitting around a camp fire roasting s'mores and enjoying great conversation with friends this weekend.  But we needed this time together.  We desperately needed time with no one but us.  We needed a morning to sleep in and make pancakes together.  We needed an afternoon free to do whatever we want, but knowing it will be just us.

It's really hard for us to say no to social events.  It's hard for us to realize we need this alone time when it means sacrificing a fun event or missing out on something everyone else is doing.  But in reality, if we didn't say no, we would be missing out on this incredible and rejuvenating time alone.

And it was worth it.  Our marriage is worth it.  And we need to focus on this now because it's not going to get easier once we add little ones to the mix.  I want to always put our marriage first.  I want to know when to say no to others because it is best for our family.

Sometimes, we just need to say no.  Even when it's hard.

This is day 7 of the series "31 Days on becoming a new wife."  I hope you'll journey with me as I reflect on my first year as a Mrs!  Click on the button to see a list of the rest of the posts.

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