Mike and I went to the marriage seminar at our church. We thought we'd heard it all, but the BBQ dinner is what threw it over for us to attend :) What really matters is WHERE your heart is WHEN you hear it. We enjoyed every minute and will have work to do forever I suppose.
The story of Hosea was used as an illustration. I'd be his Gomer. My life would be so utterly different without the grace bestowed on me. How easily I forget. Oftentimes, I'm bothered by things like him eating the candy from the table the whole time, him knowing fullwell what the doctors said only 4 days ago. On top of that, he ate all the candy that I liked. He said there were some on the tables behind us, and I'll be doggone if someone else didn't go through and swipe all of them during the break! I didn't need them anyway. I was trying to sit up straight the whole time so my belly didn't hang out any more than it had to.
It was interesting to learn about "love languages" and to figure out which ones he and I appreciate. When he was wooing me back, oddly one of the things I appreciated most was when he made my coffee for me. I'm not sure why, but it tickled me pink. One morning he was walking around in the kitchen upstairs and I screamed at him to stop and he did, for good. That's what happens when we scold someone who's trying to change. He hasn't made my coffee since. I apologized to him for that. We have so much to do and learn, it's as though we just got married. That's why it's so important to us to raise children who know better than to do what we have.
About the time they started the segment on parenting, the engines fired up at the drag strip down the road. I'd be all happy about how much I agreed on what we were hearing, when I'd look over at Mike and know he was grinning mischievously about the engine roar.
We went straight to the strip afterwards. They were finishing up, so it was free. You folks who don't think Christians have any fire are wrong. Mike and I still both like fast cars. It's just finally sunk in that there's more to life.
You "ain't" been on much of a ride 'til you've taken my Daddy's Shelby GT500 SVT Cobra up I-285 in Atlanta! What a rush. He'd let me take it out when we were visiting. The breather vents on the hood let out a hiss like a jet taking off. I'd still be spinning the tires in 4th.
The convertible GT Mustang Mike bought me for Mother's Day was a pretty sweet ride, too. A few years later, the GTO he got within 24 hours of buying our Yukon was an incredibe ride; nothing around could stop it until that fateful night: the cold December night I walked up the long hill lined with stopped traffic, 7 months pregnant. I found the ambulance and stepped into it but gasped when I saw that a child was in there with Mike. I immediately turned around and walked out. I didn't know how to react.
The little boy with a feared collapsing lung and his sister with a broken ankle ended up okay. Their mother was not. She couldn't be taken further than the local hospital because her internal bleeding was so terrible. Actually, when I tried to find out about her, the staff was confused because her bleeding had made her appear pregnant, but "I" was pregnant. I think she suffered similar injuries to the ones Mike had after his lithotripsies. She's scarred but thank God she lived ...and is one of my Facebook friends.
Mike's bones in his foot were broken in half and his shoulder joint, tendons, muscles and all were completely disconnected from his body, only skin holding the front of his arm on. After 6 months in a wheelchair, he went back to his hauling business.
We've had our "go". Some people haven't and think they're missing something. If missing something is being strapped to $600+ car payments, then have at it. But let me tell you, it's not worth it. If you're "dying" to drive something, go find a rental. That's what Mike does now. The Harley dealership knows him by name. It's about that time for him to hop on one and go.
He had a Honda Hurricane when I met him. My mom told me I'd better never get on that thing. I was a wild one and you know I did. We'd ride to the lake. The wind made me feel like no one existed but him and me. But we know our secrets will be found out, so one night I "wiggled" and we laid it down. The only real injury I had was a blue backside. I had to sit on pillows at school for weeks.
I always was a sucker for "fast"! Although, I might've liked cruising around in his Dad's old '69 Chevy truck even better. The country song, "Sounds So Good," brings flashbacks. Mike and I were hard and heavy. And we paid for it. We still do. We're both head strong, passionate, fierce; but instead of facing the world, we turned it on each other. We need all the conferences we can get to correct the habits we've formed. Although I've known for lots of years what a wife should be, I've had my limits and fired back when I should've trusted my Saviour to be my defense.
So, here was this man standing close beside me, leaning on the rail at the drag strip where years ago, he'd taken "my" Mustang and a friend's bike down. He was sober. His eyes were on me. His words were pure. He humbly drove me there in a dated Diamante he just paid cash for. He's so changed that he'd drive it into the front parking space anywhere. He'd just taken me to a marriage seminar. He opened the car door for me when we left and thankfully I remembered not to walk around, like I did a while back when I thought he wanted me to drive home! He had on and keeps on Christian radio, not for me ...but because He's found freedom in something besides fast cars and fast times.
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