Tomorrow marks two months of marriage.  We're celebrating big: Cori is going to work, I'm going to look for a job, then we're going to make dinner, eat it, and probably play the Wii some.  Exciting stuff! ;)

Alright, so I'm mocking us a little.  But, I realized an anniversary that is almost more significant than the two months of marriage mark.  Right around this time last year, Cori and I had our first serious marriage conversation.  We'd been dating for about 8 months and Cori had recently returned from 2 months in Ecuador.  Those first weeks having him back were wonderful; it was a difficult summer being away from each other, and after making it through that, we were both beginning to think along more permanent lines.  After several casual conversations about the 'if' of marriage (can any conversation about marriage every really be casual for a girl?) I realized that as much as the giddy, girly part of me enjoyed it, we were going to a place where I would be devastated if our 'if thinking' didn't turn out to be a 'when.'  So I told Cori that I couldn't have any more conversations about marriage until he was sure he wanted to marry me.  Cori said, "What if I'm sure?"  I believe my response was something along the lines of, "Well, then we can talk about it all you want!"  (Insert giggly, blushing Rebecca here)

That was the beginning of a very fun, if not sometimes scary and new, season for us.  We dated for the next 3 or 4 months before getting engaged, intentionally talking about marriage and the future.  It was such a crazy season to be in, being fully secure of Cori's feelings for me as we moved towards a place in life neither of us had been before.

Right around that time, my friend April posted a song on her blog, dedicating it to her husband of 6 months.  I immediately fell in love with it and played it for Cori, who loved it too.  It became our song and was our first dance together as husband and wife.

Dancing in the Minefields, Andrew Peterson

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

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

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

"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
[ Lyrics from: http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/a/andrew_peterson/dancing_in_the_minefields.html ]
'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 storm
This is harder than we dreamed
But I believe that's what the promise is for

So when I lose my way, find me
When I loose love's chains, bind me
At the end of all my faith, till 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
Till 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



Please, listen to it, and get caught up in the sweet simplicity of it.  Cori and I love it because it not only talks about the sweetness of love, it also talks about the reality of being in a relationship in a messed up world with messed up people.  I adore Cori, but not every day of our marriage has been easy.  We've fought and cried and gotten frustrated.  As my pastor said at our wedding, "Not every day will be as happy as this one." 

Often, when I'm feeling like a complete and total mess, Cori will remind me that he's dancing in the minefields with me- even when I'm the one who put the mines there to begin with.  And the even more beautiful part is that we've got Jesus dancing with us too.  And He promised not to leave us, and His promises are true.