Falling in Love

Sometimes it's good to remember.

I think it's scriptural.  The Bible itself is a reminder.  It reminds us where we came from and what is to come. Jesus commands us to take the supper in remembrance of Him.

I may be over - spiritualizing this, but I wanted to prove a point that remembering can be good and sometimes much needed.

The other day I felt the urge to pull out old scrapbooks I hadn't looked through in years.  To my great pleasure I found old e-mails from the hubs (when he was still the 'boyfriend') that I'd thought had been long lost in the shuffle of life.  I've thought of these emails many times, my memory failing me on the exact words expressed, but remembering clearly the feeling that came in response to their reading.

Finding them was like uncovering an old treasure.  My eyes and heart were glued and hung to every word.  I was instantly transported back to a day before kids, lying in my old bedroom, staring at the ceiling of a shadowy room and wondering about 'some day'.  I could instantly hear the "uh-oh' of ICQ chat. For some, I can remember the exact moment I read it for the first time.

There's something about falling in love.  Reliving it can make you fall in love all over again.  At the time of receiving these emails all I could do was beg God to make the days pass quickly.  I just wanted to get to 'living my life' with this incredible man.  Little did I know He was building an essential foundation for a love that would transcend the happenings of life.

He knew life would happen.

He knew we'd go on the road as newly weds.

He knew we'd have to learn how to disagree in the confinements of a tiny hotel room.  There'd be no grass to mow.  There'd be no errands to run to 'take a minute'.  There'd be no running back home.  He knew it'd be us.  Us and Him... He knew those words in those emails might just get us through.

He knew ministry would make us busy.  He knew youth kids would take a great deal of personal time.

He knew our babies.  He knew there'd be ball practices and school projects.  He knew there'd be long collicky nights.

He knew there'd be rough patches.

He knew seasons would come.

He knew the demands of life.  He knew I'd need the memories of falling in love. He knew I'd need the reminder that he was just as enamored with me as I was with him.

And littered amongst those emails are reminders that one of the biggest draws to one another, was, indeed, Him.

If we ever get off-center, we have a reminder of what brought us together to begin this thing we've started.  If we ever can't figure it out, we can agree that Jesus had it figured out since then.  Since those gushy emails, since those first moments of love, since the moment of knowing that no one else mattered any longer, He has been the center.

So I'm not only thankful for the memories of humid July baseball games or late night trips in his parents' convertible, I'm not only thankful for the privilege to serve alongside him in ministry for a season in our lives, or even the sweet breeze on graduation day, but I'm thankful for a God who drew my heart to a man who had a heart for Him, and gave him a heart for me.

Sweet love.

-a