Even though my official last day at Disney was April 15th, I had a few weeks paid leave and did not have to go into work. So right now I’ve enjoyed about a month off work, which has been nice. However, I don’t really feel like I’ve been on vacation (that’ll come next week in Cancun, Mexico). It’s been more like catching up on things that fell by the wayside since the birth of our son Kerrigan. I’ve also been studying various aspects of .Net (as you can tell from my technical blog postings). And I’ve been preparing for our summer trip to Slovakia.
Even though I’ve had a lot to do these past few weeks, not having to commute to work each day has freed me up to spend more time with my wife and child. The benefit of this shift became apparent this last weekend, when Zuzana and I attended the “Weekend to Remember†marriage conference, which took place right down the street from where we live in Valencia.
What an incredibly amazing experience! It had a truly life-changing impact on each of us individually and on our marriage. I’ve always believed that marriage, like a potted plant, needs constant tending if it is to survive and even thrive. But more often than not, with the competing demands of work, church, family obligations, etc, marriage tends to get pushed to the back burner, and we don’t pay sufficient attention to it until things start to go wrong and the warning lights are blinking.
There were so many things we learned over the weekend, it would be impossible to recount them here. Besides, it’s really something that can only be experienced, not explained. For more information, including dates and locations check out the Family Life web site. All I have to say is that if you want to save your marriage, or just make it work better, this conference is a must.
So I’m looking forward to being a much more “hands-on†husband, one who is present, both in mind and body, and who is actively engaged in making my wife feel loved and honored as the truly amazing woman and soul-mate that she is. It reminds me of when we took our wedding vows. I wanted to say them both in English and in Slovak, which is my wife’s mother tongue. Unfortunately, my pronunciation with a bit off and, instead of saying, “I will honor you all the days of my life,†I ended up saying, “I will feel you all the days of my life.†Afterwards, I apologized to my wife, but she said, “No, I’m afraid you’re stuck. You did take a solemn vow, and now you’re going to have to live up to it for the rest of your life.†So there you go, I have no other choice than to be a “hands-on husband†– literally. J
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