Getting Away

The opportunity doesn't come often, so Jake and I jumped at the chance to spend a weekend together sans kids. First Baptist Church asked the pastoral staff to commit to attending a marriage retreat of our choice. I'm still cautious of leaving Dosen for very long, so we chose a conference close to home--the Chattanooga location of the Weekend to Remember seminar. This was very generous of FBC, and staying so close to home gave us wonderful freedom in the budget to stay at a fabulous, quiet B&B and eat like kings. Uninterrupted conversation and a full night's sleep--now that's a retreat. 

I will unashamedly confess that we are card-carrying nerds, and one of our goals for the last few years has been to create a family mission statement. Jake and I want our children to know what it means to be a Stum and the standards to which we hold each other accountable. Would you even guess that the marriage retreat ended with just this opportunity? We spent a few hours at a coffee shop hammering out what our statement would include, and it turned out GREAT! No, I'm not going to post it here, but I'll bet you'll see it on display in our home before long. 

A huge thank you to Karis, nanny extraordinaire, for keeping the boys.