My parents got divorced when I was eleven; a few weeks before Christmas. One of my favorite memories is of them dancing in our living room. When I was little, I would catch them every once in a while, dancing close with the lights down low. It was so beautiful to me and even though they don’t dance together anymore, it’s still a memory of love that I hold dear to my heart.
Years later my favorite part of wedding planning was practicing our first dance. I can see us so clearly dancing in my parent’s living room to “God Bless the Broken Road” by Rascall Flatts. Now that we’ve started our family and life gets so crazy sometimes, I’m glad that every once in awhile John will come to me and go “dance with me”. There we’ll dance, in the living room, while dinner is cooking, Dennon is talking, and life is moving faster than ever but there in that moment, it’s just him and I …just like when my parents would dance. When I’m in his arms, I feel so blessed, so beautiful, so lucky to have found my life-long dance partner.
Marriage is a dance, taking turns leading, supporting each other and though the beat may change constantly, you are there to hold each other through it all. Those moments that we share, remembering how in love we are, they are important to keep us in step with each other. Life gets busy. Life gets hard. Don’t forget to dance; don’t forget to hold each other.
It’s in those quiet moments that I’m reminded of how important I am to him. It’s not always easy to remember to stop and tell each other how much we mean to the other. That closeness is so important for, not only us but my heart as a wife. As a woman I need him to take me in his arms and remind me that I’m the only one he wants to love for the rest of his life. I need to be so close to him that I remember what it feels like when our hearts beat together, these moments make the long hours at work, hard days with Dennon, arguments over silly things, reset! It’s like an overflow of love to help us face a few more days, months, years.
I’m so thankful that, even though my parents are no longer together, they left me with a perfect memory. A memory that has become part of my life and hopefully a part of my sons life too. I pray that one day he turns to his wife and asks her to dance in the living room.
I love your post about dancing, especially since I'm a dance fanatic myself. It's true, love IS like a dance. You can compare salsa to a love relationship or a marriage. Salsa (or any social dance) requires you to trust your partner, especially when you are the follower. You don't know where the leader is taking you, but you trust that it's the right step. You have to be able to read your partner's signals, which means you must be paying close attention. The better you know and understand your partner's dance style, the better you can dance together. (You learn each other.) You can even compare it to a relationship with God. He's the leader and you need to trust and pay attention to him so he can dance with you. You don't know where He's leading you, but you follow and it creates something beautiful.
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Jessica, exactly you wrote that so beautifully! No wonder you are a writer!!! And no wonder you are such a good dancer, I love the part you wrote about trusting the other person!!!
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