Originally published at Orange County Catholic

LIKE THE REST OF you, I’m a busy person. I have writing deadlines, homeschool lessons to prepare and never-ending household projects to fill my days and nights.

When things slow down for a minute, I often want nothing more than some quiet time with an audiobook and a needlework project, while my husband spends his own brief moments on the other side of the house with a video game or painting models.

Self-care is important, but sometimes it comes at the expense of time we should be spending together.

At the end of the night, I never regret the evenings that we spend doing things together instead of apart. Hobbies, conversation, even just enjoying a movie is better together than apart. We both come out of our times together filled far more emotionally and spiritually than if we were left to our own solitary “self care.”

But when I’m run ragged, the temptation is to take the easy way and focus only on myself. It takes effort to choose to actively love my spouse with the gift of my time. I have to remind myself that it’s not giving away my “me” time, but sharing “us” time, making it twice

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