Dancing in the Minefields

Just under a week after we got engaged my wife, fiance at the time, turned twenty-five. That year I set a bar so high that I'll probably never be able to come close to it again. I gave her a wooden box she had picked out, sort of like a treasure chest, that had different things in it. Notes I had been writing her, and not giving her, since our first date that had been recording everything we had done, pictures we had taken together, a small heart shaped rock I had picked up on the day we first said "I love you", some other small things, and what I referred to as, "The Ultimate Gift."

I believe I've shared this story on here before, but I'll recap briefly. My wife's favorite flower is the Love and Peace Rose. She had seen it once at a rose garden but she told me that no one had ever given her it. My plan was to get her a bouquet of them, turns out they're hard to find. No florist carries them. And then as I thought about it, that's really a waste, so I one-uped it. I decided to get her an actual rose bush of them so she could enjoy them all the time.

Turns out finding the plant is nearly as impossible. I searched several local nurseries, and no one had it. My cousin, whose husband is a landscaper, joined the search looking at their suppliers, none of them carried it. Finally I found one at a place in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I was waiting as long as possible to order it because of the high shipping costs.

One day I was driving past a different nursery, and felt a God led need to stop in there. Long story short, they had one left. Got it took some pictures, and put them at the bottom of the box underneath everything else along with the tag that was on the plant.

It was a good day for her, and she was happy. The flowers have given rise to my new gardening hobby, and I wonder what in the world I'm going to do for each birthday for the rest of our lives.

There was one other thing that didn't make it into the box. Over the years we have both been impacted by different songs. Songs that have chronicled our story as we had searched for each other. I had compiled them onto a CD and had planned to give that to her as well, the reason I hadn't is because she ended up getting it early.

We had had a rough conversation one evening, and at the end I decided to give it to her just to reaffirm how much I loved her. I had written out why each song had been chosen, and I think she got that on her birthday, but that night we listened to the CD together.

We got engaged, began planning the wedding, met some resistance, and ended up finding one more song that got added to the CD. It's called, "Dancing in the Minefields" by Andrew Peterson. It's the song that played during the recessional of our wedding.

Last night we had a different night. We were laying on the couch watching "Jumanji", and I fell asleep, that wasn't the different part. I woke up enough to walk up the stairs, brush my teeth, and fall in bed around 10:45. And then the different happened. We were both wide awake and unable to fall asleep. We've never both been wide awake. She said it under her breath thinking I was out and then I responded, "Me too." We talked for a few minutes and then decided to get up and go play backgammon downstairs.

As she was setting up the board I thought of the CD and loaded it onto the laptop to listen to as we played. Song after song and then we came to "Dancing in the Minefields."

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

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

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

Well "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 storms
And this is harder than we dreamed
But I believe that's what the promise is for
That's what the promise is for

So when I lose my way, find me
And when I loose love's chains, bind me
At the end of all my faith, 'til 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
'Til 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

So let's go dancing in the minefields
Let's go sailing in the storms
Oh, let's go dancing in the minefields
And kicking down the doors.

Oh,lets go dancing in the minefields
And sailing in the storms
This is harder than we dreamed
But I believe that's what the promise is for
That's what the promise is for

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Gs3fg_WsEg)

It was around 12:40 am when that song ended. I leaned over, kissed my wife, told her I loved her, and that I was glad we were together in this. This is so much harder than we ever dreamed it would be. But honestly I'm glad that I have her to dance in the minefields with.

As I shared earlier this week, the Bible says, "When he falls" not "If". We're going to go through the minefields, and some of them are going to go off, but we'll make it to the other side together because God is holding our hand and leading us through. And because of that, we'll dance.

"I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread."

To God alone be the Glory!

Peace be with you