Time

Fast forward two years. Marriage, full time work, taking care of the house, pregnancy, caring for a baby. This has been a very full, very busy, very happy two years. Spending time with my husband, time with my baby girl, organizing and resting have been priorities. Blogging has not even crossed my mind for over a year.

But here I am. Something woke up my interest in writing again. Maybe it was writing a letter to a dear friend. Maybe it was reading several great books. Maybe it was getting over the fear of other's judgement. I don't know what it was, but in any case here I am again.

Hello.

C.S. Lewis on Love

Here is a bit of wise insight on being In Love from Mere Christianity, by our friend C.S. Lewis:



"Being in love is a good thing, but it is not the best thing.

There are many things below it, but there are also things above it. You cannot make it the basis of a whole life. It is a noble feeling, but it is still a feeling. Now no feeling van be relied on to last in its full intensity, or even to last at all. Knowledge can last, principles can last, habits can last; but feelings come and go. And in fact, whatever people say, the state called 'being in love' usually does not last.

If the old fairytale ending 'They lived happily ever after' is taken to mean 'They felt for the next fifty years exactly as they felt the day before they were married,' then it says what probably never was nor ever could be true, and would be highly undesirable if it were. Who could bear to live in that excitement for even five years? What would become of your work, your appetite, your sleep, your friendships?

But, of ocurse, ceasing to be 'in love' need not mean ceasing to love. Love in this second sense -- love as distinct from 'being in love' -- is not merely a feeling. It is a deep unity, maintained by the will and deliberately strengthened by habit; reinforced by the grace which both partners ask, and recieve, from God.

They can have this love for each other even at those moments when they do not like each other; as you love yourself  even when you do not like yourself. They can retain this love even when each would easily, if they allowed themselves, be 'in love' with someone else.

'Being in love' first moved them to promise fidelity: this quieter love enables them to keep the promise. It is on this love that the engine of marriage is run: being in love was the explosion that started it."

Of Joyous Events

Photo by Christina Hastings

I celebrated last Christmas away from home in California with my dear friend Daniel. I will never forget that evening, the Eve of Christmas Eve. Most of Daniel's family was out doing last-minute Christmas shopping. Daniel and I were sitting in his living room talking quietly together. At one point in our conversation, he excused himself to another room (to call my Dad to ask for permission to propose). When Daniel came back he sat down, paused for just a second, and then asked. Simply, quietly, in his own words he asked. After a few moments of speechless joy, I answered yes.

It was perfect.