Like a lover's kiss

Getting away.
The last days of summer.
Squeezing hard the pursuing.
For rest.  And beauty. 
To just be.

And so we hit the road.
My man and me.
Just a bag and a camera.
Some books and a journal.
To celebrate what is.

And what we found.
By letting go.  Traveling light.
Conversation good; unraveling life.
Beauty-surrounding goodness.
Soaking it in; this unencumbered.
The unhurry; days full of slow to recapture our hearts.

Living the moment; savoring well.
Kisses stolen.  A playful grin.
Laughing and teasing and drinking in new.
Tables on street corners under the moon.
A quiet understanding; a girl and her man.

But ahh, now it's Monday.
Home.  Missing then.

Somehow it's different.
And no going back.
Life stretches forward.

And I am reminded. 
How we are wired; how put together. 
To enjoy and live full; this life.
To pursue the romance.
The happiness, joy.

But the stuff here on earth.
Comes too quickly to end.
And the arrows and disappointments fall hard.

And the happiness trips. We fall in pursuit.
Of things not fulfilling.  Disappointing.  Again.

And as good as a trip with a man I adore.

The getting away, the romance, the fun.
The beauty of seasons colliding.

There is more.

Journal filling.  Eyes wide open.
Turning pages. Conversations deep. Hungry for God in the beauty of slow.

And then.
Grace falling like rain.
Helping me breathe. 
Helping me live.  Seeing truth.

The stunning love of God.

And like a lover's kiss. 
The response comes easy.

Delight.
 
Pure and simple.
For this sacred romance.

To be loved so by God.
Unconditionally.  Unfathomably. 

No difficult task; loving back.
It's the sense of duty that kills.

And just like the joy in spending time with my man.
And the extravagant goodness of being away.
So, too, the joy even better.
This worship.  Of God the Creator.

And me.  Delighting in God.

All else. This past week. 
All the goodness.
A sweet gift. 
From God.

And so I miss that time tucked away.
And I am grateful for my sweet man.

But this I remember on Monday.
And all days in between.

Happiness.  Joy. 
Within our grasp.

In delighting in God.
The Sacred Romance.

And my response.
Easy. Like a lover's kiss.

Delight.
On a Monday morning.