My husband and I were like those branches the other night, wanting to reach out and hold on to every last moment of the day. We celebrated our 17th wedding anniversary this past Saturday.  While we waited outside a restaurant, we watched the evening sky quickly fade away.  It was gorgeous outside- much like the day we got married…bright, sunny, and mild.  I wish evenings like these would never end!

A while back, my husband told me to listen to a song he heard on the way home from work.  He said it reminded him of us.  It was called “Dancing in the Minefields”.  I connected to the song from the first time I heard it.  It beautifully sums up what marriage is all about… dancing together through the storms of life- as we hold on to each other and cling to God’s promises.

I love the analogy of marriage to dancing- it is something you learn to do…you learn to move together, helping each other stay in time with the music.  And no matter where we move, how high we leap or how low we dip, He is our steady beat- helping us to stay in perfect timing with His life song.

As the evening of our anniversary faded, I thought of our many date nights… long talks over dinner, coffee at Barnes and Noble, sunset watching… laughing and being silly together.  We have repeated this night so many times and it never gets old… Like dancing partners- it gets better and better.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.  1 Corinthians 13:4-8

 

Dancing in the Minefields

by Andrew Peterson

 

I was nineteen, you were twenty-one
The year we got engaged
Everyone said we were much too young
But we did it anyway

We bought our rings for forty each
From a pawn shop down the road
We made our vows and took the leap
Now fifteen years ago

We went dancing in the minefields
We went sailing in the storm
And it was harder than we dreamed
But I believe that’s what the promise is for

“I do” are the two most famous last words
The beginning of the end
But to lose your life for another I’ve heard
Is a good place to begin

‘Cause the only way to find your life

Is to lay your own life down
And I believe it’s an easy price
For the life that we have found

And we’re dancing in the minefields
We’re sailing in the storm
This is harder than we dreamed
But I believe that’s what the promise is for

So when I lose my way, find me
When I loose love’s chains, bind me
At the end of all my faith, till the end of all my days
When I forget my name, remind me

‘Cause we bear the light of the Son of Man
So there’s nothing left to fear
So I’ll walk with you in the shadowlands
Till the shadows disappear

‘Cause he promised not to leave us
And his promises are true

So in the face of all this chaos, baby,
I can dance with you