Ȋmpreună (together).

Now look, I’m not going to suggest that this past month of our lives has been very much like the children of Israel wandering in the desert for 40 years, but it’s the story in the Bible that came most quickly to my mind when I think about our marriage.

Not that we’ve been freed from the capitalist captivity of the United States and are now disappointed by the lack of “freedom” in our new freedom (though it’s not uncommon to hear bad North American pop music on the buses and in restaurants here…).

No. I want to share just how delightfully surprised I am at how well Kelly and I have gotten along since we’ve arrived here. I know we’re newlyweds and should still be infatuated with each other and that it should be a dream come true to go to Europe, of all places, together. And that’s true. It’s wonderful. But it also means that our main community is… each other. It’s not like we’re doing separate work during the day — we’re studying the same language. It’s not like we have any friends of our own — we share everyone here because we really don’t know many people. We worship, eat many meals, study, run, be with friends, and even just sit and stare off into space together.

For those of you who don’t think this sounds like a lifestyle that would be taxing or out of the ordinary rhythm of life, I will forever wonder how you do it. For me, and for Kelly, 24 (or 23 or 22)/7 with the same person, even our darling spouse with whom we entered into the covenant of Holy Matrimony, can get tiring.

So you can know the good news that Kelly and Jack are healthily, HOLY, and, for the most part, happily becoming one flesh, enfolded by the grace of God. I shudder to think about doing this without God. I guess I shudder to think about doing this with God too, but that’s a much better shudder. A holy shudder. I shudder when I think about the call that’s been set before us, and about the covenant we made in June. It’s definitely a cause for celebration.

I dearly want to celebrate with you, our wonderful cloud of witnesses and supporters, in person, with wonderful food and drink and dancing and games and long, quiet walks. For now, we’ll celebrate over blog comments and emails, maybe letters, mainly in our hearts. Though when it comes time for us to celebrate our calls and relationships and our God with you in person, I hope you’re ready to GET DOWN AND PARTY. TOGETHER.