At last!

One of the really silly things about my boyfriend Ronnie and I is that we have very different interests. I adore photography, reading, singing, and watching really crappy melo-dramas on ABC Family. He is a history nerd and a lover of all things sports (especially Ohio State football and European soccer).

We often share our hobbies with one another because it is a way to share a part of ourselves with one another. But it's not all that thrilling to listen to him talk about the recruiting class for the Buckeyes. And likewise, he'd rather not watch Pretty Little Liars every week.

But we have found one thing that we have in common. We like reading the Bible together. Furthermore, we love talking about it with one another. And more than that, we adore expressing our love and devotion to God through our questions, prayers, and readings. It brings us together in ways that we never knew were possible.

I mentioned a few posts ago that Ronnie and I have been wading our way through the Old Testament. We had our first discussion on Genesis about a week ago and it is still hanging out in my mind.

In the second chapter of Genesis, at the very end, the author is describing how Eve was formed from the rib of Adam. I really love this imagery. Verse 22 starts after God has put Adam into a deep sleep (God, the first anesthesiologist), "Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib, and he brought her to the man. 'At last!' the man exclaimed. 'This one is bone from my bone, and flesh from my flesh! She will be called 'woman,' because she was taken from 'man.''"

Adam exclaimed "At last!" as if he had been waiting his entire life for Eve. For this piece of him to return. For this companion. That is just so beautiful. He had this longing for a piece of him he didn't even know he was missing.

In verse 24 it says, "This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one."

We are a part of one another. I don't think this is exclusive to a certain man and certain woman who is "meant to be together." In my mind, it is so completely encompassing. We could not live alone. We are made from one another and we need one another to continue to create.

This is so beautiful. Think about it: we don't have a choice but to be joined with someone else. It has already happened. Yes, Adam and Eve were man and woman, husband and wife, but does it have to be like that? Can it just be as simple as having a friend that you feel so spiritually close to that it is as if you are one?

The woman that helps with the youth group at my grandfather's church was commenting on PDA in church one day. Our youth group felt that sometimes college kids were too "cuddly" during church and there was a better place to display that than in God's house.

The youth leader said that when she holds her husband's hand during worship, it feels as though they are connected in more than just a physical way. She feels as if they are truly praying together and their spirit is in the same place.

That is beautiful. I think it is our right and our privilege in the Church to find someone that we are so connected to. I think God wants us to find that person. He wants us to be that happy and to find a connection so strong that it is hard to break away even for a moment. Whether it be a friend, leader, or spouse, every person deserves and has a need to feel that connection. It is the way we were made.

And as God said, "It is good."