Get the picture?

People of a certain age, me, for example, remember a couple of pop songs filled with echoes of this verse. Bread hit the charts in February 1977 with Lost Without Your Love. Air Supply came along later and added Lost in Love. Teens of those days swooned when David Gates crooned. 

I remember well the first time I saw the woman who would become my wife. It was the fall of 1981. I got the courage to speak to her about six months later. She said Yes when I asked her out. Three years later, she said, “I do.” 

Actually, the vows we took required an “I will” response, but “I do” is the trigger phrase most people think of regarding marriage. 

We still do. We still will. 

We’re working on forty years now. We’re going to celebrate our next anniversary like only people of our age can. This means vitamins and medication, physical therapy, and comfortable shoes. 

You get the picture. 

The song Happy Family by Gary Dunham was sung at our wedding before we entered the room. The song says in part,

A happy family is quite a thing to see nowadays
And Lord, I hope that every, everybody sees us
So I can tell ’em that a man can take a wife
And share the sunshine and the storms together
But love won’t stand the weather without Jesus
([https://genius.com/Gary-dunham-happy-family-lyrics])

The “happy family” part has been a goal, a plan, a pathway, and, much of the time, a reality. Like every family, we have had some bad days, weeks, months, years, and seasons. Sometimes life is really, really difficult. How we navigated the hard times with the little knowledge and wisdom we had is beyond me. If you need evidence of the grace of God, we can show you the pictures and tell you the stories.

Our stability over decades helps us help others as they try to muster the strength to hold on, to make sense of life, to survive the hard times. Sometimes the best we have to offer is listening ears, kind words, and warm hugs. 

We focus most on listening. Sometimes the last thing anyone needs is more words, no matter how wise or fitting. Sometimes the last thing anyone wants is physical touch that’s a little too chummy. Shared sighs and sympathetic tears go a long way toward covering the distance between a hurting heart and a concerned friend. 

The Hebrew word translated above as exhilarated and captivated is probably best translated as intoxicated. Permission for drunkenness is given here for a husband and a wife. Permission is not the idea, however. Expectancy is. Devotion gets at the heart of the matter. This, of course, reminds us of the song, Hopelessly Devoted to You. 

Get the picture? Sing the song. Live the love.

—

I will live a life lost in love with the wife of my youth.

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Our Father, thank you for the possibility of happy family life. Please heal the hurts of those who are lost without your love. Draw every couple’s heart to your own. May your perfect love overflow into their homes. May they know the healing, hope, and deep joy of love, true love that comes only as a gift of your grace. Amen.