4 Years Married and Still Dating

I love dating my husband! I think he is the most wonderful husband in the world! Friday night we went to Handel's "Messiah". We have gone every year since we have been married and it is one of my favorite traditions (maybe it is our only tradition so far since it seems we travel to a new place each holiday...it looks like traveling is another tradition).



I think Christmas is the most romantic time of the year and I love going to the symphony. I'm mathematically minded so I look at the whole experience this way:

Most Wonderful Husband + Most Romantic Time of Year + One of My Favorite Activities =
A Wonderful, Exceptional, and Memorable Evening

Instead of a "+" I think I should insert a "*" and the whole equation should be exponential for every year we have gone. In this case the whole thing would be raised to the 4!

I guess that is my nerdy way of explaining how much I enjoyed the evening. I enjoy the production more each year I see/hear it. This year I was particularly impressed with the production and the thoughts I had while listening.

It seems Christmas is padded with a lot of "cultural fluff". I enjoy a lot of the mystery and glamor of the "cultural fluff", but I've been a little frustrated recently with the fluff as well. Handel's "Messiah" is the only traditional/cultural thing I can think of that we do as a society that is purely about Jesus Christ. I enjoyed watching a choir full of different racial, gender, and age groups singing about Jesus Christ. I also looked out at the audience for a while a noticed what different walks of life were represented, but all had come to be uplifted by this musical testimony. I'm grateful for this Christmas tradition (even though it was originally produced around Easter).

One of the other thoughts I had was the awesomeness of the production. At the time Handel wrote the music for the lyrics (which are all biblical verses on the life of Jesus Christ), his career was failing and he was depressed. The music and lyrics combined express to me that Handel had felt the relief and hope available to us because of the life of Jesus Christ. Rumor is Handel himself was found crying after finishing the Hallelujah Chorus composition and when asked what was wrong stated

"I have seen the face of God."

I think it is difficult to express my feelings in words. They just can't capture all the emotion I feel. While listening to several of the pieces in the production, I was reminded and experienced again some of those same feelings I have about Jesus Christ. I am very grateful!

I'm afraid I am getting way to personal for a family blog!