Call It Magic (aka HIJACKED)

(From time to time, Chad has been known to hijack my blog.  I enjoy when he takes my blog space,  It gives me an opportunity to hear him speak, because God (and everyone else who knows me well) knows that to get a word in with me–well it’s not always easy.  As much as I just wanted to let him speak, well, I just couldn’t do it.  After he left for work this morning, I sneaked into the office to add my two cents. (I’m so weak.)  

(My words are in red.)

I’ve been known to listen to a lot of music.  It’s true, he does.  I’ve been known
to listen to a lot of different kinds of music (never country though, there is just an innate
disdain for that style of music, I’m sure it’s fine and all, but this is one
area in which I will not budge). We disagree on this point–proof that marriages can survive this dilemma. There are a few bands that I am particularly
fond of though. One such band is Coldplay (can’t I get an “AMEN”!?!).  “Fond of” is an understatement here–come on Chad, lets keep it real.  I could
go on and on about their lyrical prowess, how they push themselves musically,
and how they put on epic extravaganzas of concerts, but this domain does not
belong to me, (technically, he pays for the domain.) so I will stop for now. This blog is about one of their songs,
though, particularly the first four lines of the song:

Call it magic
Call it true
Call it magic
When I’m with you

(The song is called Magic, it really is great.  You can find it up on Spotify right over there–on the right side of the screen) While I accept his lack of enthusiasm for country music, I don’t believe it would be acceptable for me not to like Coldplay. 

Today marks 14 years that we have been betrothed. I love that he said “betrothed”. Fourteen years
that we have journeyed along the winding road of life. 14 years that we have been
help-mates, sojourners in the seasons of life, and best friends. Fourteen years of magic
(not the kind that was on MTV’s Cribs back in the day, though that may have
happened 3 times). Pretend you didn’t read that, Dad. 

We have been running together for 14 years of marriage and 2
or so years of dating. It’s something Summer suckered me into when we first
started getting to know each other. I invited, not suckered. Or was it that I wanted to win her over, so
I tried to impress her by running with her?  This is so not true,  I wore running clothes and my Dad’s raggedy old sweatshirt on campus when Chad and I first met.  He was, shall we say, more pulled together.  I recall having to do the ‘winning over’.  

Anyway, yesterday, we went on a run together. {As you know
from recent blogs, Summer has thrown Doc Horton to the side and has not heeded
the doctoring advice of her husband, or other loved ones, and has started
running again. The way I see it, if I run with her, she will have to go sooo
slow that she won’t really risk injuring herself further.} Before we walked out the door, I checked radar to be sure we wouldn’t get stuck in a storm.  I told Summer we had 30-45 minutes of clear before the next round of rain
would hit.

 I was wrong. I have in in writing!  Do you all see it?  HE WAS WRONG!!

We were at the 2.9 mile mark and
I felt a sprinkle. I told Summer she could run ahead and get home as quickly as
she could so she wouldn’t get totally soaked (not so secretly, I was hoping
that she would do a 4 minute mile and a half and then come pick me up). It didn’t
matter that she went ahead, the rain began pounding as hard as Summer was running while I kept to my“slow jog”. As I watched her disappear around corners,
over hills, or between sheets of driving downpours, I remembered some of the
fun runs we had in rain. The conversations and laughter that we shared. The
splashing through puddles and the feeling of driving wind and rain pelting
against our skin. I will spare you stories of runs, but we have laughed (We laugh a lot), I have
cried, (he didn’t really cry) and we have had a lot of fun running.  Chad ran six miles with me shortly after we began dating.  I don’t think he had ever run that far before.  I knew he was a keeper. 

There is something magical that happens when it’s just the
two of us. YES. When the silly chattering of children, the incessant pull of a puppy
wanting to play, the constant tug of needing to get this or that done around
the house or at work disappears, and it’s just the two of us, a different world
opens. Whether it’s sitting on the front porch watching a storm roll through
the countryside or getting lost in a sea of humanity in a big city, life takes
on a different beat when it’s just the two of us. Amen. 

Summer, I am so thankful that I get to walk this journey of life with you. Chad?  I am better because you walk beside me.  Thank you for fourteen wonderful years.

(It turns out that by the time she got home, the rain had
stopped and she didn’t need to come pick me up.) However, I did cheer for him as he ran up the hill.  Certainly, I get points for that? 

Here’s to many more rainy runs!