A Perfectly Romantic Sabbath

Painting by David Wagner

Wow. When it comes to perfect days, yesterday joins the ranks. But it didn't start out that way. Kind of like my marriage. A rocky start that transformed into the greatest blessing my life.

Woke up feeling pretty lousy. Same with Bill. Plus, our street hadn't been plowed and it was bitter cold. We decided to skip church and stay home. I climbed into a hot bath around 10. Fifteen minutes later, I got out of the tub, wrapped a towel around my dripping body and walked into the bedroom.

"Any chance you could be ready to go to church in 25 minutes?" I asked my husband. To avoid boring you by making the next 25 minutes into a long story, we hustled, despite a couple of upset stomachs, and made it to church on time. Amazing.

The service was good. Uplifting, challenging and, apparently, just what we needed. I still didn't feel well, but I got better as the day went on. During the service, one of our members shared some love poems her parents, who were going through a difficult marriage, wrote to each other. They are deceased now, but left behind such a precious gift -- a testimony to their commitment. 

Our daughter, Jessica, spoke at the end of the service. She was trying to inspire congregation members to get involved in the 40 Days of Life campaign that kicks off next Sunday, and she did a darn good job of it.

If you've been reading along with my Sabbath Experience, you know what came next. Yep. Lunch with the family at a local restaurant ... one of my favorite times of the week.

Perfect day? Sounds pretty normal so far, although gathering with my church family for worship and then dining with my kids and grandkids is pretty close to perfect. It was the rest of the day that warranted a 10 rating for the day.

With a super busy week ahead, Bill and I decided to celebrate Valentine's Day on Sunday. What a good choice!

We started by going to the 4:50 showing of The Vow. Before I tell you how much we loved the movie (and we really loved the movie!!), I have to tell you how much I loved the new prices at our local movie theater. As we drove past the entrance, I noticed a sign indicating lower prices.

"Yeah," Bill said, in his usual cynical tone, "they probably dropped them a half a dollar." 

Since I was paying for the movie, I was beyond thrilled to discover he was way off. All shows before 6 are only $5. But even after 6, my ticket would have been $7 and Bill's senior citizen ticket would have been $5. This was a cheap date!! At least on my part.

The movie was delightful. Channing Tatum and Rachel McAdams turned out stellar performances in a well-scripted, nicely directed film. The movie was based on a true story, which made the events in the film even more profound. One message the movie drove home is something I've stressed many times here on the blog -- life can change in an instant. And we never know when that instant will occur. Nor can we predict the aftermath. Life is all about surprises ... and not all of them are welcomed ones.

After we left the theater, we drove to Blue, a fine-dining restaurant nearby. We were greeted with the distinctive voice of Etta James as we approached the front door. That was a good start to a fantastic meal. The music throughout our evening was simply perfect. As was the rest of the atmosphere, the service, the wine, and the food. And, of course, the company. The bill was less than perfect, but that was my husband's contribution to the date (I got the good end of this bargain, don't you think?). I did contribute, however, by buying a $25 Restaurant.com gift certificate to Blue for $2 -- the smart way to enjoy dinners out!

Since we started our date night so early, we were pleased to be heading home a little after 9. Bill lit a fire and we cuddled up on the couch in front of the fireplace and talked. But it wasn't just small talk. Nor was it a deep theological discussion. Or a disturbing conversation about GMOs or BPA. It was a lovely reminiscence of our journey over the last 2+ decades. What a blessing this man has been, and is, in my life. Last night, we challenged each other to go through the alphabet telling each other of favorite memories of our years together. How romantic is that? I mean really?! For nearly 2 hours, we talked about the wonderful highlights of our life together.

We fell asleep holding hands last night ... a simple gesture that brought me so much joy as I drifted off to sleep. Sweet. Caring. Committed.

That folks, is love.

And that was my Sabbath yesterday.

Sharing it with you,

Hana