Breathless Love

(this is probably terribly disjointed. I just get carried away and can't put it all in a sensible place.)
It has been said many times that marriage is a preview of the happiness we'll have in Heaven, while we're still on Earth. I believe this 200%. I adore being married. When I look at Andrew, I see my very best friend. We spend so much time laughing and enjoying our life together. Andrew never speaks an unkind word and he really delights in being married to me. I would imagine that his love for me is close to the love that Christ has for me. When he talks to me, I can tell that he just loves being near me, listening to me, laughing at me, much like I should love being in the presence of holiness. He and I were born to love each other, just like I was born to love my Creator. When I see Andrew pop up on my cell phone, I know that I'm going to share a few minutes with the person whose voice I always love to hear. I'd imagine that God thinks the same thing when I get around to saying hello. "Oh, there she is! What a sweet girl that Laura is." When he walks through the door at night, I know that several hours of happiness lie ahead of me, spending time with this wonderful person and the children we love so much. Doesn't our Lord waiting for us in the tabernacle think the same thing on Sunday morning?

It amazes me that I don't see this parallel more often. Going to Mass on the weekend often feels like such a task with three small kids in this stifling Texas heat. But if I only had an hour a week with Andrew, wouldn't I arrive early, thrilled and excited to spend even an hour with him? Wouldn't I just JUMP out of bed on Sunday morning, ready to pretty myself up for just a smile from him? Wouldn't I stay late and walk away slowly, wishing for even more time?

I know that Christ loves me hundreds of times more than Andrew does, and I still don't give to Him what I give to the mirror of Himself that He's given me on Earth. My Earthly spouse in Andrew is a gift to me from my Heavenly spouse in Christ, and there are still times that I just can't see the forest for the trees.

The vocation of marriage is important because it's a foretaste of what we can look forward to with the One who loves our souls so intensely and who died to give us life. When a man and woman join together to create a life, they mirror the gift that Christ gives to us in the sacrifice of the altar. Wicked cool, right? That's how NFP gets you in a Catholic marriage. Once you truly understand what a child is, you can get carried away so easily!

I suppose that He looks at me and thinks, "Sheesh, I suppose she's really living that vocation when she falls asleep cuddled up with him instead of praying to Me." And isn't that a prayer in itself? Living our vocation throughout the day and exhausting ourselves with laughter and love is what Christ expects of us in marriage. We fail our vocation when we treat each other as objects and disregard the gift that we've been given in marriage.

The gift of marriage should remind us every day that He is waiting for each of us breathlessly, so anxious to welcome us Home. When I greet Andrew at the door after work, shouldn't it be something close to the way Christ would welcome him into Heaven? "I've been waiting so long, and I love you so much!"

If marriage has taught me anything in these short years with Andrew, it's that we cannot even fathom how much we are loved by our Creator. If marriage is a tiny sliver of that love, I'll be first in line at the pearly gates.