We dance.
And even with my eyes closed I know the steps by heart.
One two three. One two three.
You wrestle them through tooth brushes and Sponge Bob toothpaste. I tuck gangly legs and chubby thighs into Spiderman pajama bottoms and Cars pajama tops and tuck them up and over and into beds they’ve slept in since they were born.
We two step in the kitchen, over the laundry, past the rows of photos framing the beat, the rhyme, the rhythm to this last decade and a half. In sync. Swaying with the tired and the weekend and the preparation for Monday.
And I love you. I love this melody we make together in this small house that Jackson wishes had stairs. Music lives in this space. And you can sing me anything. I choose your song over Southern harmonies, frequent flier miles, and LadySmith Black Mambazo every day, every year that ticks by. And there’s an orchestra that plays in the living room between the two couches that cost us so much more than money and the toy tiger that sprawls at their feet.
We dance.
My hand in yours even on the nights when I beat your chest and ask all the “Whys?” that have no answer and lie in the dark and listen to us both breathing as we have since our first dance accompanied by wedding rings. And we sleep the ordinary peace of the extraordinary choice – till death do us part. Tomorrow when the sun comes up we will slip back into our steps with your hand at my back, leading, guiding me through the daily ritual of becoming one.
There is only one dance.
Jeremiah 3:31-3-5
“I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness. I will build you up again and you will be rebuilt, O Virgin Israel. Again you will take up your tambourines and go out to dance with the joyful.”
And you are my only and forever partner as He leads us in it.
{Photo: Wedding day first dance; 1999.}
Oh wow, is that you? You’re gorgeous!
That’s a beautiful dance, having a partner in life with a family is such a blessing.
Ah, but it’s practically impossible not to be filled with beauty and life at 24 isn’t it? Beginnings are golden. And looking back at them fill me with goosebump memories all the way down to the thighs I didn’t have back then :)
This made me laugh. Out loud. And then sigh… because I’m the same :)
So very precious. A beautiful love story.
Oh my, I sucked in much air as I saw that picture! You are just stunning…you both are stunning!
And to know this and feel this after being married over 10 years is beauty! What a tribute to your man, your marriage, your God! Oh yes, ma’am!
ohhhhh i love it. i love glimpses of love stories even when they’re mixed with the every day wrestling and yet end up with dancing even so.
It’s the every day mixed in that makes the love all the sweeter, isn’t it?
it is, it is. those are the parts i always loved the most and miss. the every day just doing life together. =)
What a beautiful metaphor of dancing through life together, enmeshed as one. :)
Lovely~ x
I love the music He’s making with your lives…
What can be more attractive than the years and dreams and vision all becoming one?
(And can we all come over and pile on your couch and go through your wedding albums? Please? So. Beautiful!)
These words made me hear the tambourines…
All’s grace,
Ann
Oh yes, please. Let’s do that! What fun it would be to bundle up between comfy pillows and memories! Mmmm, and I promise there’d be cookies!
That picture is gorgeous. You look like a ballerina.
Oh, what a beautiful post. Thank you for this. It sings the song beating in my own chest this morning. Thank you.
Isn’t it wonderful? and the melody gets more beautiful and the harmonies tighter as the shared life plays on. Thanks for the reminder, causing me to ponder my own symphony heading into its 18th year. (20 of togetherness)
I agree with Ann, how fun would sharing wedding day stories and photos be…
Sweet post, Lisa-Jo.
And each year teaches us something new about one another, doesn’t it? And each year that passes reminds me I wouldn’t go back to the beginning again for anything :)
Such a beautiful post! Isn’t committed marriage love dreamy? That rhythm in life that we get to share with our beloved is so sweet. Thank you, this was a great start to my day.
Erin
LOVE this. Wow. It reminds me of the song “Stella’s Tarantella” by Over the Rhine. Happy dancing to you and your forever partner.
Love,
Jeanne
OK, now I definitely need to go check out that one!
That’s the verse that saved me from myself.
And dancing is my joy…dancing…three chords together…not easily broken.
So beautiful.
Your hand behind your neck is glorious!
That “saved you from yourself” -Deidra, I feel like I could spend hours talking to you. So much to learn and listen.
Such beautiful words, such beautiful love. This is so much how I feel. They daily ordinary is what makes this journey so unique and amazing.
Yes – life is a series of small gestures that are what make marriage the grand gesture that it is!
Such a beautiful post!
One, two three, One two three, One two three. The rhythm of the dance. Your dance. The bride and groom. Still dancing your first dance, except you have to avoid the tiger now. I think it’s a charmingly simple dance. I’m glad the music is still playing, I’m glad you haven’t left the dance floor, I’m smile at the thought that the dance floor is cluttered with toys, and pajamas, and little loved ones. No need to clear the floor for the bride and groom – the floor is just fine – as is . One, two three, One two three, One two three.
…”the dance floor is cluttered with toys, and pajamas, and little loved ones.”
and still we dance.
Beautiful. My husband and I are about to celebrate our 10th anniversary next month. What a blessed and amazing decade this has been. Sometimes at night I reach out to touch him and just thank the Lord for His goodness in putting us together. He is such a wise and loving God!
Yea, just touching toes in bed under the covers can speak volumes, can’t it?
Love me some Ladysmith Black Mombazo…
But I’m pretty sure I want to get married all over again just so I can BORROW YOUR DRESS!!!
Great post, but the pic says it all!
BLessings, sweet friend!
Oh man yes – I am still a little in love with that dress; and I mourn the fact that the waist required to fit into it is no longer in my list of accessories :)
So beautiful! Thank you for sharing your heart and life with us!
of course! i love this too! and i wish we actually put the music on and danced…literally!! and my lanky WHITE husband can cut some rug too…it always makes me smile big inside and out:):):)
Beautiful, always beautiful. What a blessing to dance the dance with the ones that God prepared just for us! Amen?
Breathtaking!
Words needed for recent days in the midst of cleaning closets and picking up Archie comics for the umpteenth time, and today? Pouring children’s Tylenol – again.
Two things are so helpful for our relationship: his sense of humor (we’re always laughing together) and . OK, maybe one thing. :)
Oh wow.
Your writing is…is…
a deep breath, and a long exhale.
Beautiful.
What a lovely, heart felt post. As Alistair Begg says, “the plain things are the main things and the main things are the plain things.” My prayer is all women would realize this, early days, and not let life’s messiness overwhelm the joys of daily living.
i have no words.
bravo. just bravo.