....and lots of 'em. That's been my life lately. Renee and I are less than four weeks(!) from getting married; our old, single lives are dying away and our new, married life is beginning to take shape. Witness:
- it all started 2 months ago when I switched my cell-phone provider to Verizon after 14 years with AT&T. Verizon is Renee's carrier and she'd just started a new contract. I needed a new phone and contract and, besides, her mom is on her plan. Not leaving my future mom-in-law out in the cold. No.
- my old side-by-side refrigerator was replaced last Friday by a monster black french-door bottom-freezer model. The old one was, um, white in a kitchen full of otherwise black appliances. The new fridge made sense also because Renee loves to cook and does it very well, which means she needs lots of room for things that I never previously needed in my fridge. Me being a bachelor and all.
- I now have a DVR, which I never cared to pay for until Renee opened my eyes to the wonder of it all! Well, actually, she opened my eyes to the soaps she likes to DVR and would want to continue DVRing after we're married!
- I'm now sleeping on her pillow-top mattress after we moved it to my house with most of the rest of her things yesterday. We compromised by keeping my box springs on the bed.
- I pulled the trigger on a new 2012 Kia Sorento late last Saturday afternoon. My faithful Mazda6 sedan is 8 years and 148,000 miles old. It has reached the end of its useful-to-me life. For example, a bad hub bearing in the left front wheel has made for an embarrassingly loud hum at highway speed. If you're in the market for a new ride, check out the Sorento and if you like what you see, I recommend buying from Zeiser Kia in St. Peters, MO. I have had a great experience with them. Their internet sales manager got me what I wanted for a fair price and I accepted her offer via cell phone while preparing to mow my grass. No haggling at the dealership, just a few e-mails and phone conversations.
- My old family room furniture has been replaced by Renee's couch and loveseat. They match the color of my family room much better than my red and plaid chair and sofa. I can't wait to see what Renee does to liven up the spartan-ish interior of my/our home.
- Renee has been honored with three bridal showers so far and now my house has a lot more "stuff" than I'm used to having around. It's been great to see her come home with all the gifts that people have bought for us.
So those are just a few of the changes. I'm rolling with them--not getting tense or uptight that things aren't what they used to be for me. I'm blowing up my old life to make a new life with a beautiful woman who is simultaneously blowing up her old life. This is entirely biblical. The prophet Isaiah spoke of it this way:
“Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.
See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
do not dwell on the past.
See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
Now, he was speaking of God as it related to the Israelites of his time but I see a parallel to Renee and me. For one, that passage is one of her very favorites and for another, it speaks to our relationship. The two of us can't expect to hold on to our old way of doing things after we're married. We have to be open to new rhythms of life, new patterns of living, new habits, new schedules. This is where the "love chapter" of 1 Corinthians gets put into practice. I have also received valuable insight and wisdom about all of this from the Christian counselor that I see regularly. (Thanks to my bro and sis-in-law for pushing me to start that. It's been a real game-changer in my life.)
If you're reading this and prayer is something you do, please include Renee and me in your prayers. We're heading into the homestretch of the wedding planning and future-life-planning so the more prayers sent our way, the better. We promise to pray for all of you!
