I have been MIA in blogland lately- between my daughter’s 2nd birthday and preparing for my husband’s 30th birthday that falls just 10 days later, February is a busy time. Since I am fasting Facebook for Lent, I hope to have more time soon to write (and hope to write specifically on Lent and why I gave up Facebook!).
But for now, I just want to comment on the night I just had with my husband. We went out on our first date sans children for the first time in a loonnnggg time. Asher is now about 2 1/2 months old and it was strange leaving both he and his sister with my parents so I could take Will out for his birthday. Strange, slightly anxiety-producing, and wonderful. On Tracie Miles’s Proverbs 31 blog (www.traciewmiles.blogspot.com), she has been doing a marriage challenge series. It just so happens that today’s challenge was on finding time to play in your marriage. I read this earlier today and recognized the truth in her thoughts on how important having fun with your spouse is, and how it is all too easy to let play go by the wayside as life gets busy. Tonight, I lived that challenge.
I had been planning on taking Will out to dinner for his birthday, and what made this even more special thn the fact that we rarely go out (especially by ourselves), was that I was going to surprise him with a restaurant neither of us had been to before. And that I would never choose for myself. Family and friends that know me tease me about my “turkey and bread” mentality…that is, I was (and often still am) the girl that ordered sandwiches from Subway that consisted solely of turkey and bread. No lettuce, no condiments, no cheese. Nothing. So I suppose I could be considered a picky eater (is that an understatement?).
Well, for all my family and friends reading this, guess where I took Will tonight? Oh, you will never guess! I, Mrs. Turkey and Bread, took Will to a Thai/Vietnamese restaurant. Indochine is well-known in our area, but due to my dislike of anything other than your standard American or Italian fare, had never considered dining there. But…I knew Will would probably love it (as he is far more adventurous than I) and I thought that I should try and focus on what he would want (meanwhile, I must confess that I did skim the menu online a few days prior to plan out what I thought I would be able to stomach). And…it was amazing.
Not just the food. But being with him. On a date. By ourselves. We had fun.
We laughed, we discussed serious topics and silly ones, we attempted to use chopsticks (okay, I attempted and failed, Will attempted and succeeded). We tried new foods by ordering an appetizer sampler that rocked. I did stick with a tried and true entree (sweet and sour shrimp), but the experience overall was so refreshing. And it refreshed my outlook on our relationship and our romance. I stared across the table at my wonderful, handsome husband, and fell in love with him all over again over calamari and chicken satays. It was meant as a gift for him, but God used it as a gift for me as well.
I suppose marriage is supposed to work like that- when we focus on our spouse, it blesses us in return. Sounds like what happens when we focus all on Christ…
And just for the record…tonight was not the first time I had had calamari. I tried it for the first time in high school when I went out with a bunch of friends before prom. So take that, turkey and bread.
Dancing in the Mundane 