the vision

This version of The Vision, slightly altered but still amazing, was put together by Dave Carrol's team at Freedom House, Brantford.

"young husband"

june 12, 2008

we are so new
floundering
in the blinking dawn
of our oneness
standing on shaky legs

your nighttime sighs,
still foreign,
lull me
as does the shape
of your roman head
on pillow

my body is shy
i'm tickled by your love
unsure
of how to have or hold you
or what to do

these days, so new
perfect
our verdant bed
cacophonous, symphonic
orchestral tuning


What is there to know?
All this is what it is
You and me alone
Sheer simplicity
- Kings of Convenience ("Know How")

navy blue

"I'm so glad you're here, Anne. If you weren't I should be blue...very blue...almost navy blue. Dreams and make-believes are all very well in the daytime and the sunshine, but when dark and storm come they fail to satisfy. One wants real things then."

- Miss Lavendar Smith, Anne of Avonlea

springfield

1 + 1 = 1

A co-worker asked me if things were different now that I was married.

I replied, "Well, I wake up to a man sleeping beside me, for one."

Not many people pretend to understand that Andrew and I hadn't lived together before we were married. Fewer believe that we hadn't slept together. So, yes, there are a few changes now that we're married; more (and more commonplace) than most of my co-workers could imagine.

1. Sometimes the bathroom smells of cologne.
2. Sometimes the kitchen smells of bleach.
3. There are boxers in the laundry.
4. I'm always well-fed.
5. Even at lunch the next day.
6. If a clap of thunder wakes me from my sleep I feel a hand on my arm letting me know it's OK.

While researching the first year of marriage I came across some of the reasons why, however, there are perhaps fewer changes than my co-workers would expect. Considering our first date consisted of us delving into deep heart issues, our second date had us both in tears, within the first six months we had discussed birth control and over the course of our two-and-a-half relationship we had mastered the completion of a teacher's college education, an extensive road trip, a period of unemployment, two Freshwinds, the birth of a 24/7 week of prayer, the birth of a live worship CD, a parental hospitalization, a pastoral resignation, fourteen (or is it fifteen?) weddings (four of which we stood for), the amalgamation of our cell groups, and leading the youth of an internationally renowned church, I figure we had covered more than most couples do in the first year of marriage. We had laughed together, cried together, prayed together, fought together, traveled together, plotted together, driven together, walked together and breathed the same air for long enough that marriage was a pretty easy step, all things considered. Being that we had grown into best friends somewhere along the way there haven't been many differences in my life since we've been married.

Except, of course, for the fact that I wake up to a man sleeping beside me.

announcements

I just realized that our wedding made the TACF video announcements the Sunday before. We were so busy we didn't have time to watch them until now. Thanks, Salivation Nations!

i'm wife

I ’M wife; I ’ve finished that,
That other state;
I ’m Czar, I ’m woman now:
It ’s safer so.
How odd the girl’s life looks
Behind this soft eclipse!
I think that earth seems so
To those in heaven now.
This being comfort, then
That other kind was pain;
But why compare?
I ’m wife! stop there! - Emily Dickinson (1830–86)