Recently our daughter went to camp with her youth group. After I dropped her off, I came home to a quiet house — no giggly, dancing, random teen went barreling down the hallway. Even our dog just lay by my feet and moped around. Apart from her bedroom still being a mess, it was a different feeling with part of our family missing for a few days.

I had grand plans to accomplish much in her absence, but many of the items on the list I didn’t get to. The most important one though, I did — spending quality time with my husband. We went out to dinner, watched a few previously recorded TV shows, relaxed in the pool without diving for pennies or being flipped over, kicked back in the hammock, talked, and just caught up with one another. It was a reminder to us of how quickly life crowds in and how little time we have for just the two of us.

When children are still living at home, the marriage relationship isn’t typically the default priority. The slumping economy doesn’t lend itself to planning frequent dates out of the house with our spouse. Today’s culture doesn’t foster a keep-the-marriage-together goal.

It takes intentional effort for each of us to nurture our marriage relationship. However, when we do, the rewards are priceless. The benefits extend far beyond our own personal connections — it trickles down to create stability for our children too.

So take time this week to plan a date with your spouse. It doesn’t have to cost anything. It just requires a concerted effort.

There is no more lovely, friendly and charming relationship, communion or company than a good marriage.  ~Martin Luther

I’ve been told (more than a few times) my daughter is a mini-me. Although we are similar in many ways, she is very much her own person. Her unique innovative spirit amazes me and I love watching her creativity mature and grow. The seeds I saw when she was little have spread and multiplied. I’m anxious to see how they further develop!

For young children, everything is new and exciting in the beginning. A two-year old is ecstatic over watching a dump truck. A child unleashes their unstoppable movement in the rhythm of music. A little one is mesmerized by squishing food through his fingers. Each day is a new exploration.

As children grow up, so do their aspirations. The incessant love for animals grows into a desire to become a Veterinarian. The high attention to the surrounding colorful aesthetics reveals an artist waiting to fly. A nurturing heart and relentless love for impoverished children rises up a future parent to a needy orphan.

One of the greatest joys of being a parent is watching our children develop their own passions and interests. What a privilege we have to encourage our children in their zest for life. As parents, it’s up to us to give them opportunities to explore, help them discover patterns of interest, and then allow them to SOAR!

Recently I did something I resisted for a long time. I joined Facebook … but with reservations.

I understand the appeal — catch up with long lost friends, bring everyone up to speed on your life all when you have free time, share photographs in one convenient place, business networking, exposure to a cause, along with many others.

It’s not that I have anything against social networking, but I’m just one of these people that would rather have a more personable one-on-one conversation or a more involved face-to-face discussion with people. Time also plays a huge part in my qualms about joining. There are only 24 hours in a day and I can’t do everything. I know firsthand how things can suck you in and before you know it, your intended goals fall off your radar and you are spending time doing something else.

One example began about three years ago. I joined an online writing website with the goal to get feedback on my writing. I got my free membership and posted some of my work. Before long, I upgraded my membership to maintain an ongoing journal book that others could read and comment on as well. I met other writers and my circle of writer friends got larger.

Before long, I spent much time each day reading and commenting about their daily happenings and writing daily entries about mine. I couldn’t wait to log on to see my comments from my cyber friends and soon, there was little or no time left for me to do any actual writing. That venue became my distraction, not an added benefit to my goal. After about a year, I decided I needed to quit my membership to focus once again on my writing.

Society offers many distractions to lure us from our goals. Some distractions are good at the right times and in the right dosage. Other distractions can threaten to derail us if left unchecked.

Plugged In Online (an entertainment resource put out by Focus on the Family) sends out regular emails. Yesterday’s email boasted a headline, “Facebook: A Turbulent Romance in Four Acts.” Intrigued due to my own thoughts and feelings on the social networking subject, I read the article. It was humorous but truthful. It gave great food for thought.

As parents, are we teaching our children conflict resolution in real life? Do our children know how to manage their real-life friendships without a click of a button? Is more time spent with a laptop, than face-to-face interactions?

I’m not saying we all need to deactivate our social networking memberships, but one thing is certain — time is valuable. Once it’s used, it’s gone. But how we use our time, lingers for a lifetime.