We are fortunate to live in a wonderful corner of the world… West Michigan.  Not the big city part of WM, but the rural area.  It’s a land of back roads, two tracks, wildlife, and opportunities to get lost deep in the Manistee National Forest.

Often times, we’ll do this on purpose.

Our appreciation for this type of recreation together came one summer day in 2013 when one two track… led to another… and then another.  A couple hours later, we were carefully watching the gas gauge on the truck as we clearly had no idea where we were, or how much time it was going to be before we reached civilization again.

For us, this has become an unplug outside the home.

Sometimes there is music being played.

Sometimes we have a direction in mind before we start.

Sometimes the driving becomes the space where we talk through the challenges that we are facing.

More often than not, it is pure randomness.  Our commitment to random has been one of the cornerstones in our friendship.  The open road provides us space for that.

Years ago, I had presented the idea that couples should give 15 hours a week to each other to nurture the relationship.  It was just a conversation starter more than anything… and more often than not, it was met with a bit of laughter… who has that kind of time amidst the craziness of family life?

That’s a good question.  Especially in this age where kids are rarely taught the value of not being busy.  You can see the symptoms of busyness as people rush from one thing to another with very little confidence in the grace of just ‘being’ in a moment.

In order for their to be any prayerful conversation, in whatever form it takes, that will meet the needs of intimacy between two people, there must be a wide margin of quiet leisure that will defy the functional definitions and labels we strap on to ‘husbands’ and ‘wives’… ‘parents’ and ‘children’.

Our drive time is one of those spaces to find this leisure… to find the ’15 hours’ we need to nurture intimacy… (just one).

May you find yours…