I’m an Uncle!

We found out today! I’d have bet the farm it was going to be a girl. Kristin was sure it was going to be a boy. I was guessing girl (I just had this persistent intuition … plus, I wanted to buy dresses and unicorns and stuff for my very own niece). And then, Steve called from the doctors office and said “He’s a boy!” So I guess I’m going to be an uncle instead of an aunt.

I can’t imagine how people could stand to wait a whole 9 months before knowing something as monumental as whether the arrival of their baby merits the pink and purple play pen or the big, blue barnyard blanky. What a blessing to be able to know ahead of time and have 4 months to hash out the finer details. And now, we finally know your name, little guy. Our little Josiah Stephen! We can’t wait till you join us! … And I promise, I won’t buy you anything pink and frilly.

Head in the Clouds

My head’s in the clouds … and that’s to say nothing of where the rest of me is. Yes, and I’m afraid that’s the closest to earth you’re gonna get me for a while. I am in love.

All a’flutter, all a’twitter, all my spare time and thoughts being gathered up and filled to over-flowing with B. And I’m SO HAPPY! I can’t tell you. And if I were to even start, you’d all leave. So I probably won’t. … At least … I won’t say toooooooo terribly much. I might want to actually blog some time, after all … You know … and not be writing pointlessly into the proverbial void.

Which leads me to the question you yourself have asked time and time again: “If someone blogs alone in a forest, and no one’s around to read it … does the tree he hangs himself from in utter despair even bother to make a sound?”

What’s with me and voids, lately? It must be the word of the week.

This love thing has my head in a void, though. Perhaps that’s what keeps bringing the word back to the forefront. And when I say my mind’s a void, I mean I am a complete air head of late! That’s not an over-statement, trust me. For instance — I would be the one who put a dollar into the soda machine, grabbed my change, and walked halfway back to the office before I realized I had forgotten my Diet Coke in said machine. That would be me. I’m also the one who put the bus money into the time clock on my way out of work. I have put milk in the microwave, knives in the toaster, and walked out the door with mismatched shoes … all in the midst of my twittering/fluttering VOID over B!

Ooh. Did I write B? Wow. Haven’t thought about him in a long time. Must be nearly five minutes since I just sat and truly contemplated the incredible significance of … *sigh* my very own B!

Good night, loves.

IT’S COMING!! .. IT’S NEARLY UPON US NOW AND I’M ALL SLGBDDOCOXGKDEYKRYYTELEKDKCMD,S,GJPDDJH4SLHJC;!!

And how do I find out that HP Book VII has not only got a title now, but it’s finished and will be released July 21, 2007????? I sit down and check my email whilst waiting for a very, very late cab to work! And I’m still sitting. And I’m still waiting. But, man am I ever smiling!

In case you didn’t quite catch that, HP VII has not only got a title now, but it’s going to be released 21 July, 2007!! And it’s done now!

And B and I were just saying we needed to reread all six books together before it comes out. LOL! Now we’ve just about got enough time.

Oh … and SLSGSBTOXLGH.D,HHSPSPDCIDEKWLTHDDGDGDGDGDGDGDGDGDGDGDGDGDDDGDGDG–OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOP!!!!!

I do believe in blogs

I do believe in blogs. I DO believe in blogs. I do I do I do I do I DO believe in blogs.

*Closes eyes very tightly. Squinches up face. Imagines clean, blank blogging area where thoughts can flow. Like milk and honey, they can flow flow flow.*

Like I said before, I will not apologize. I’m not going to promise to update regularly or anything rash (and utterly ridiculous) like that. I can’t. Blogs are supposed to be a fun thing. And believe me — ain’t too much of anything less fun than coming home after 8 hours at a computer screen, with only 4 hours left till you have to go back to sleep, than to sit down in front of a computer screen. Again. And try to think happy thoughts to write about.

Well, I do have some happy thoughts tonight.

First off, I have experienced an immeasurable lightening of spirit ever since Betty and the other Babes came over to help me clean/de-dog-hair/air-out my apartment. We packed the remainder of Steve’s stuff in boxes, vacuumed all rugs and furniture, cleaned windows, threw stuff out, reorganized, redecorated … It was amazing! I never would have been able to do it all alone! Seriously … no matter how well you know how to clean as a blind person, there’s just gonna be some stuff you over look, you know? There just is. And, then this guy, Scodd (only because Betty can’t remember his real name, Todd, and ends up calling him Scodd instead) was apprised that my garbage disposal wasn’t working right. He came forthwith, with his mother en tow (which I thought was really beyond cool because she’s not out and about too much these days). She folded laundry and offered to do mending if I had any. Scodd meanwhile fixed said garbage disposal, fixed windows, fixed the smoke alarm (which was hanging by a cord from when some unnamed someone yanked it out of the ceiling), fixed some stuff going on with my furnace, and offered to fix my vacuum cleaner (which had just croaked halfway through vacuum-o-rama 2006). Hasn’t called me on that yet, though. We’ll see.

Work is going well: Nothing much new to report on that front except for the tons of time I am spending with someone we’ll refer to as B from here on. B is someone you’ll recognize from this earlier post … and I still get a kick out of knowing I blogged about the way we met without understanding the significance of said meeting.

Little did I know that those awkward few minutes sweating over whether or not I should page Chuck would be the first few of many minutes spent with B. We enjoy each other’s company immensely and we talk a lot on the phone. That’s about it (sorry, no blazing romance to report) but if that’s going to happen, now is not the time. We both realize that. But, as I told him yesterday, that realization is kind of boring, so I’m not going to let it ruin what we have now, which is just fun. No jumping ahead irresponsibly, but, at the same time, no “I’m sorry. I can’t play Scrabble with you alone in my house because you’re a guy … and guys date girls … and we’re not dating or anything” … which can get ridiculous.

And I can get ridiculous both ways. So pray for both of us, OK? Thanks.

Thanksgiving was fun. My fam (minus Kristin who went to Basically-Canada-Land Northern Ninnesota) came to my house along with my aunt Judy and cousin Jeremy. … Oh, and their unannounced little dog, Bambie, who pooped on my bed. We had all the regular Thanksgiving fare (turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, cinnamon butternut squash, green bean casserole, corn, rolls, pickles, olives, salad, and cranberry juice with ginger ale). After dinner came a general snoozing/watching TV interval brought on by having eaten so much (plus the appetizers earlier of chips with taco dip, cheese and crackers, and cookies). Yeah … we were just a little full.

Then came Steve and Laurie, meaning the Scrabble tournament was on. Out came the two Braille Scrabble boards. Dad, Steve, Mike and Jeremy were at one table, while we girls (Mom, Laurie, Anna and I) took the other. Mom and Steve won their respective games, so they had a play-off and Steve won.

Oh yeah … Along with their Braille Scrabble, their killer home-made bread, and their even killing-er home-made mint fudge brownies with nuts, Steve and Laurie brought the newly-developed wedding pictures, which you can see HERE (password = heesen2006). You can see all 535 of them there. I’ve asked Laurie if she’ll do a general descriptive run-down for those of us who can’t see them, and she’s agreed, so that’s coming! She’ll have to keep on me to get that done though, because I tend to just … not do things sometimes.

And then Laurie spilled her water directly into my lap. That was precious.

Things are going well with Baby Church (now more resembling Toddler Church — only potty-trained and eating only solid spiritual food). I was made the first non-charter member October 15th at Jim and Betty’s home and officially welcomed into fellowship during the morning service the following week. I was at Jim and Betty’s for a meeting with the elders during which I gave my salvation testimony and all of us asked questions of each other affirming that this church and I were a good fit and that I agreed with the constitution and bylaws. And I do believe we are a very good fit indeed! So after putting my “yea” in the book next to my name, Betty and the elders’ wives decided all this called for a little pageantry. They got up right there and did a little song and dance! It was so hilarious! It started all right, like a real song with words like, “Congratulations. We want to welcome you as a member” or something that they all sang and swayed to in unison. But, that lasted five seconds and they were just singing whatever came into their heads at the top of their lungs — stuff like “We hope you like it here, because we like you, too” … “We like your flute and your dog, and we want you to staaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAY!”

Well, I’m sure I can think of something else to write eventually, but for now, I’ll just leave it here. You’ve got the essentials, yes? I do love you all! Talk later. Bye bye!

Aaaaaaand they’re off! …

This is the latest line from Steve to have me completely losing it at work. Thing is, the break bell in the plant next door (also piped quite loudly through the cafeteria area, unfortunately) sounds exactly like the gate release bell at horse races.

Work is going quite well, I must say. I’m learning the ropes. There’re always more ropes to learn when you think you might be getting it, but they are much fewer and farther between. They take me by surprise now, to be honest.

“Please hold, Sergeant: I’ll ask about that right now. …”

“Ah … Jesse?…”

“Yeah, babe…”

Whaddya do if the cust received an item back in May, stored it away for future use, and is only now claiming that it might possibly have been damaged because the box was wet when he received it — and it’s a cartridge — and Office Max doesn’t take cartridges back, do they?”

“Yes, they do.”

“Oh good. So I can get an ATR (authorized to return) on this and…”

“Ummmm… Are you still working on #IB145399?”

“Yes.”

*Sigh* “That ink cart is from United Stationers … not Office Max … in which case … I’m not sure…”

Sigh is right.

In good news, my boss’s boss took me out to lunch on Friday. (Take a Lowly E-Commerce Peep to Lunch Day, I guess). But it was really nice. He took me to P.F. Chang’s because I’d never been there and I adore Chinese! He then proceeded to order two appetizers (lettuce wraps and crab Rangoon) because I couldn’t decide. I had the ginger chicken with broccoli (had to include all that because — ahhhemmm — some of you — would have asked because you’re *cough*freakishly-obsessed-with-what-people-are-eating-at-any-given-moment*cough* !

Anyhoo. He predictably asked all the “How are you liking it? — How do you feel about frustrated customers? — Where do you see yourself in the future with the company?”-type questions: the answers to which, he was very understanding and supportive of. He didn’t even flinch when I said I’d like to travel in the future and do sales. (I think he was hoping I’d mention sales and marketing, actually, because he jumped immediately into his plans for the future of our department — which included selling!! And commissions!! And he did say “There’s plenty of travel involved in that line” … YAY

I always hesitate when asked things like that, because the president of the company said a few promising things when interviewing me for the job that turned out to be more sparkle than substance when I took the position. What if ‘e-commerce would be a temporary position’ proved to be another fake out? But with this guy, I did feel free to go ahead and have out with the insinuation that although I would be content in customer service for a couple of years, I didn’t want to retire having done nothing but sort out and smooth over customer/supplier relations my whole career. And he wasn’t at all surprised. So, I feel quite good!

The weekend was crazed! My parents came to celebrate Steve and Laurie’s birthdays (two days apart, they are). We went to Ling’s (yyyyum … More Chinese!). Ling’s will be the site of the rehearsal dinner as well, and we needed to approve the menu.

Laurie’s maid of honor and I decided to go with Laurie’s tailor for our final gown alterations, so we went as a group Saturday morning. I’m evidently a bit thinner than I was when buying the dress (I’m in 8 territory now, and loving the view!), so enough about my pizza and Chinese already! I get out. I walk. I play with Chutney, and I run all the way to the vending machines at work at least twice a day. Back up off this. And that’s that.

And then, there’s Laurie! … Can’t say too much more than that (because STEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEVE is reading this! LOL) — All he’s allowed to know is that Laurie’s get-up has more buttons than the old lady in the cardigan behind the switchboard at Grand Central Station …

Speaking of buttons … I have a new obsession. A new and blazing desire — and it’s all Laurie’s fault. But really, it’s Steve’s, because he took Laurie to Goldi to begin with. (I was along for the ride) Goldi is a high-end discount boutique on Oakland Ave. I guess they’re kind of known for three things: women’s clothing, cool bling for your house, and … and SHOES!!

And there’s this line of cass heels called Indigo from Clark’s of England! SO. FRIGGIN.’ KYUUUUUUTE! The ones we liked (and Steve was going to get her for her birthday) are called Mademoiselle. They were soft leather with an eligant heel and a double row of velvet stitching. They had tread, I tell you, and a darling little button on the front. These babies were all that was fashionable in fashion, plus all that is preferred in comfort. But they didn’t have her size. They had mine … and they were $74 … and I was THIS close to utter happiness … and then I remembered who I was and what was and was not in the bank. *sigh* But they were shoes! And they were, and still are, absolutely perfect.

I love my dad.

Dad, at dinner: “Did you know anyone when you went to that other church?”

Sas: “Yeah.”

Dad: “Like who?”

Sas: “Like Cindy Weihearst, and this guy, Dustin …”

Dad (suddenly intense): “Dustin, huh? Who’s Dustin?”

Sas: “Some guy from Maranatha. He’s really cool.”

Dad: “Oooooooh. How old is he?”

Sas: “My age … but Dad … “

Dad: “There ya go.”

Sas: “Dad. He was kicked out of Maranatha for @&@*$$&#.”

Dad: “Your age? Sarah, you should get to know this guy.”

Sas “Did you not just hear … “

Dad: “You know, I was a rebel, too, in college … Only I left of my own ‘free will’ – Pardon the pun.”

Weekend to end all weekends

The weekend to end all weekends is behind me. Not only was it Father’s Day weekend, but also, it was both the weekend of the 37th triennial WSVH Alumni reunion, and the weekend of Kristin’s high school graduation party! I was all over the place this weekend!

You can read the basics of the alumni bash at Caroline’s, so I won’t get too deeply into it. I will add, however, that by some strange turn of the wind, I was elected with two other people to represent WSVH Alumni on the Wisconsin Council of the Blind and Visually Impaired. As well, they voted me to serve on the board of alumni directors for the next 9 years. This was quite a surprise. I can’t say what it is that people know of me that would make them choose me over the Braille Note guy with the pages-long bio, for instance (who came in dead last in both races). I hope it’s not just my mom’s name (she’s been active in the blind community for years), but if it is, I’m looking forward to finding some sort of unique contributional outlet. And thanks to those of you who voted for me. Please expect to be asked lots and lots of questions about how this all works!

I had loads of fun this weekend! I thought I’d only be depressed meeting up with people who are either doing nothing with their post-grad lives or are so super-accomplished and fulfilled that I’d feel like a beggar in comparison. Well, there wasn’t time for either of those feelings. I was too busy practicing for the concert on Sunday or running errands for people, or practicing for the concert on Sunday, or sitting worshipfully outside the radio station while Dennis and Chris did their thing, or practicing for the memorial service when I finally found out the concert wasn’t my only gig on Sunday.

I stank in the concert on Sunday, btw.

Kristin’s grad party went well. We rented out Mocha Moment for the occasion. I think everyone enjoyed themselves. I only know there was a lot of inter-mingling of people among each varied circle of Kristin’s acquaintances. It wasn’t quite as crowded as expected, which might have had something to do with the fact that it was pouring and the tornado sirens were going off for a while there. LOL [favorite line of the day: Laurie {as we get more comfortable on the leather couches} - "Hmmmmm. The radio just said 'Take shelter immediately.' That might indicate a serious situation."]

As for Father’s Day, I think we’re celebrating that later. We must be, because nothing was done for Dad!! And he’s the one who made this weekend (and many many others) so successful for the Heesen clan and all their undertakings. THE SHAME! THE INDECENCY! I have an idea about salvaging Father’s Day, but Dad reads this, so …

Busy Intersection Receives Bad-for-You Rating

The WAFTPSOBP (Wisconsin Activists for the Physical Safety of Blind Pedestrians) earlier today declared the intersection of Greenfield and Highway 100 to rate a “really really bad for you” on an as-yet undefined and highly subjective sliding scale. In today’s random test conducted at 4:09 CST by WAFTPSOBP, the West Allis conflux of Greenfield and 100 (affectionately dubbed ‘Hell’s Driving School’ by the group) scored a big fat ‘0 in 15 out of all 7 determining criteria.

“We crossed it today for the very first time,” said Sarah Hees*n, the little-publicized group’s President and Interim Sergeant at Arms. “We took the bus home from work, and we had to cross Greenfield in order to catch the 28. Well, I felt safer asking the nice bus driver to help me across, meaning the intersection fails accessibility testing hands-down.”

The intersection’s failing comes as no surprise to other disability groups around the state.

“I’m glad it failed,” said Sarah Hees*n, 25 of West Allis, member at large of the city’s first and only League of People Who Hate Hwy 100 and Greenfield. “This announcement gives our club a reason to exist.”

“Oh, it’s a crazy place,” said Sarah Hees*n, 3rd Executive Vice Regent of the Wisconsin chapter of the National Advisory on Issues Related to the Emotional and Mental Wellness of Poor Sheltered Blind Girls With No Social Life Despite Living in Large Metropolitan Areas. “There’s … like … cars everywhere, and they’re moving and stuff. There’s islands and right-turn lanes by the dozen at that one intersection. It’s pretty much like it’s a potentially fatally busy place or something. So, you have to pay attention to what the traffic’s doing probably. And maybe try to take cues from your dog guide. Add that plus the fact that you’re blind, so you don’t know if there’s even a mall at the other side to make it worth the hassle. That’s a lot on your psyche right there. A whole lot to deal with.”

Hees*n, (single white female, 25, 5 foot 9, glorious long auburn hair and barely-blind-looking clear blue eyes), admits she’ll be crossing Greenfield 5 days a week now that she has a job. “It really is a job for the professionals, and now that I’m a professional with a life and such … well, I have no choice. But, I only want them to know that I do it for them — only out of wanting to make the world a better place. Because I willingly suffer on the median at 100 and tell the world about it, they, the poor, mobility-challenged blind people of Milwaukee and of the world, can maybe one day learn how to cross the more rewarding streets by the malls on their own.”

Quiet

It’s too quiet around here. I just got back from the baby church. We get carried away with food and talking after the study. Tonight they were talking about random business and someone suddenly asked if everyone knew how to get a hold of Sarah. Before I could think of anything to say, someone was ripping off tags of note paper, writing my cell number down and handing it out to everyone. Man, I love these crazy people!

But I came home to quiet, and I’m a little worried. Steve’s in the hospital.

He got a very bad burn last Sunday night. We were drinking coffee at baby church, and he was transferring his from between his knees, when it slipped and spilled into his shoe! And I mean it was hot! Luckily there are two nurses in the congregation, and they swooped down immediately with ice and got his sock off. By then, he had already kicked his shoe off so forcefully that it hit one of them.

Steve was in such pain: I felt so helpless squeezing his arm. His voice didn’t even shake, but that was all he could do.

At the hospital, we learned it was a vicious 2nd-degree burn around the top of his foot, and a 3rd degree over the heel where the coffee puddled in his shoe before he was able to kick it off. We were especially worried because his diabetes makes his feet that much more vulnerable in general. Infection could be a bad, bad thing.

But ‘Oh no.’ They assured him no end that an antibiotic would probably not be necessary. Just a change of dressings twice a day for 5 days, and with care, he’d be fine. This sounded reasonable to me, a complete nil in the medical knowledge department, but our nurse friends were skeptical. They told the doctor so at the second hospital visit … and the third as well, on Friday, when it was looking kind of grim. They thought the chances of infection were extremely high.

Meanwhile, Steve was walking happily around in flip-flops so the bandage wouldn’t get irritated. I had to fight to get him to stay home for the 2 and a half days he did take off of work. He was up and around on that foot much more than he should have been. Most times, he was either medicated out of the pain, or so loopy he didn’t care. But, one morning, he had to literally crawl in pain into the bath tub. He couldn’t stand in the shower, or even get back out of the tub, from the sound of it. All this made me wonder what he was actually doing to his foot when he walked around because he was feelin’ no pain.

He really should have been in some sort of a regenerative cocoon on Saturday. But, no, he was off to a wedding. LOL! Yeah. A wedding. Did you see him? He was the only guy wearing flip-flops with his $800 suit! And he danced, too.

I’m told his activeness wasn’t the problem. Sure. Maybe not, but the repeat visits to the hospital did just happen to occur the day after each of his active spells.

And after the wedding, he was informed he was now infected.

So, thanks to the know-it-all doctors who insisted an antibiotic would be over-kill, he’s in a hospital bed right now, with an IV stuck in him for 48 hours. Laurie’s there, of course. That’s good. But, I’m here. And I miss him. Please pray for him.

Life Begins in West Allis

Yesterday was terrible. it took me half the day just to wake up, and the other half to realize I wasn’t gonna get a nap anytime soon. Luckily, after a quick word with the anti-Christ, I was able to convince him to alter his schedule so that 06-06-06 could go by uneventfully so I could at least sleep last night instead of reading/blogging endlessly on the mind-numbing fall-out of a potential apocalyptic development. So it’s more superfluity on the blog today … and tomorrow … and for as long as I can not feel guilty about it.

I really shouldn’t though. My life is actually getting more interesting. We’ll call those stories more fodder for my next podcast, though, because I’d rather talk about them and do a few sound-scenes than try to cover all the bases in letters. Besides, I’ve got a lot of good stuff on my Eddy that’s due to get published sometime. All I need to do is figure out with Steve where to set up my computer. That’s where Studio Recorder is, along with all my pod-safe music and such. So, there will be a 2nd podcast. I want to get it done before work starts on the 19th. As always, I do appreciate the continued saintly forbearance on your part.

These days running up to my job have been relaxing. I’ve been slowly unpacking my stuff and putting it all in place. I’ve been chillin’ with Steve while Laurie was in Utah learning the ropes in her new position as head of states and states full of deaf-people phone stuff. We went for Chinese with Laurie’s parents. I did lots of laundry. Today, I finally did some dishes. I also spent the better part of an hour reconfiguring the cord tangle draped tackily around the entertainment center. Thank you, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, for not bothering to feed the wires through the back of the cabinet when you hooked up my TV. It was great fun disconnecting, feeding through, and reconnecting each individual four-foot cord in and out amongst the digital box, the television, the DVD player and so on so they weren’t all hanging out the front.

Now you know who my real friends are, don’t you? I’ve referenced both the Anti-Christ himself, and You-Know-Who, and I’m not even done with this post.

The most enjoyable aspect of life here so far has been Risen Savior Bible Church. They began as a Bible study out of a local Evangelical-Free church. Not happy with the recent trend toward a Purpose-Driven Church mentality and a growing deemphasis of the Bible taking place in the congregation, — and unable to affect change after months of trying — this group began a Bible study on Sunday nights which is now in the process of becoming a new congregation of its own. I’ve never had the privilege of observing the birth of a new body of believers. It’s a little like walking into an elevator with a bunch of long-lost family members and finding out that you’re all getting off on the same floor, but you don’t know where you’re going after that. So you pray, you read Scripture, you have some refreshments, and you take a vote.

Steve was elected as a deacon, btw, as well as head of the committee to find us a permanent building. Some of the people in the elevator must really have a lot of faith.

I think we’re still technically a Bible study for the next few weeks, although we did get our first piece of church mail this last Sunday. We meet Sunday and Tuesday nights either in someone’s home or in a Baptist church that’s been loaned to us for $50 a month. Right now, it’s quite informal: there’s no written order of service, people speak right out during the message, and there’s plenty of eating and drinking through-out.

The people I’ve met in this baby church have been some of the most gracious, truly genuine Christians I’ve ever met. I knew this right off the first night, when I realized I’d been talking happily with 20 people, and I hadn’t felt one … not even one slight instance of blind burden syndrome or the all-too-common complete invisibility phenomenon. More on the people later, though. I’m still getting to know and love them all.

I guess that’s it for this post. I could write much more, but I’d rather try to fix the TV just now. I kind of sat on the remote and got into a menu or something that’s got it muted. It’s not the mute button though. Could be that it’s just not on speaking terms today. Hmmmmm.

A Wedding and a Rant

Crazy Shanti doesn’t have a blog anymore, so I guess it falls to me to report that her younger sister was married last Saturday. It was a beautiful beautiful service, in the true down-home Baaaaaabdist way. Christ was the focus, the reception was held in the church basement, and Becky was a knock-out (all the girls in that family are). Angela was a little elfin princess with her white-blond curls and her satiny flower girl get-up. The ring bearer managed to drop the rings a few times delaying the exchange of rings and thus making the ceremony perfect. Oh yeah … and my parents sang two duets, and I almost cried.

Now, the rant:

I wish more people could see weddings where it’s truly not about the party afterwards or jokes about ‘making it legal now.’ It’s not even about two becoming one: It’s about the joining of man and woman with God into a home, a separate entity, all of it’s own.

As for the physical bonding, these two, although radiantly in love, hadn’t even been kissing before hand (a fact made obvious by the groom’s awkward lunge into the first kiss of his marriage as we watched). There’s just something refreshing about witnessing the bond of two whose hearts and souls were one months before they joined physically.

I wish more marriages ould start on such a sweet and God-honoring note. I realize that a reality check proves that marriage hasn’t meant the same thing to everyone since the days of Adam and Eve (which were pretty odd times, lemme tell you), but, the skewed definitions and expectations of others can’t change the definition of marriage as first authored by God. It is, therefore, a marriage based on that definition that has the most likelihood of succeeding. I’ve attended dozens of weddings of this sort, and have been able to observe the homes that have resulted. Only once have I seen a home break up of a Christ-centered wedding I actually attended. Similarly, I couldn’t attend even a fraction of the weddings of the Maranatha students I knew about, yet I know what they’d probably look like, and I’d be very surprised to hear of even 5 from these last 5 years who divorced down the line. This ratio is unheard of elsewhere, even in ‘fundamentalist circles’ these days. I suppose it might be similar among Jews, (or certainly among Muslims who are pretty regulatory about it), but I’ve definitely seen enough success in Bible-centered marriages to be convinced. My parents began in just this way (although I’m told they weren’t above a little kissing after their engagement), and they are still as in love as ever, despite going through all manner of hardship brought on by us kids over the last 33 years.

All this is to say that there really is something to be said for the Biblical order of things. Heart and soul before body. Man and wife before God. This is what I know. This plus a lot of prayer and continued devotion to Christ is the best home-making recipe. I hope I can someday experience it for myself, but if there’s even a question about starting off Gods way/the Bible way, I won’t even give it a second look.