Goin' Courtin'

     'Goin' Courtin'.  Goin' Courtin'.  Always sets your senses in a whirl!'  Is it still courting if you're married?  Guess it could be.  Our date night started this week as we drove off in The Amazing PT .  Kinda felt like teenagers as we drove off, side by side with the passenger seat holding my purse.  Haha it was so fun!
    'Oh it's fun to hunt and shoot a gun.  Or to catch a rabbit on the run.  But it's just not quite the sportin', goin' courtin'.'  If you don't recognize these lyrics, you probably don't love the movie "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" like I do.  It is my all time favorite!  In fact, it played through three times just yesterday as I cleaned house.  So when I found out the play was coming to a local performing arts center, I started making plans.  And that was months ago!
     Knowing the Executive Director of the arts center, I made a phone call about a week before the show.  She reserved some of the best seats in the house for us!  After hubby approved and tickets were purchased, I could hardly wait!  I don't have a very long bucket list, but this was definitely on it.
     So here we were, in our chariot (a 2000 Ford F150 XLT, aka PT) on our way to fulfilling another dream of mine.  I have to add, my husband is amazing about indulging me in these things.  Beach trips, Graceland, Donny & Marie.  The list goes on and on.  He really enjoys seeing me have a good time and getting to live my dreams.  Just remembered, he's even told me I'm the smartest woman he knows!  Wow.  I think he likes me! :)
     Finding our seats, I was very calm for me.  No bouncing up and down even!  But I did quietly hum the songs we were about to hear.  I wondered if all the Pontipee brothers would have red hair like in the movie.  Would they use live animals on stage?  Oh no!  What if it wasn't as good as the movie?  (And yes, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers was a movie before it was a play.)   We were about to find out!
     'Bless Your Beautiful Hide!' Adam Pontipee was standing right there on the stage in front of us.  No Howard Keel.  And no red hair.  But he was really good!  Live animals?  Nope.  And I'm kinda glad since we were second row center.  Could have been a little messy.....
     Were we disappointed in the performance?  Not at all!  In fact, even hubby had a good time!  He smiled and laughed and enjoyed it almost as much as I did!  It wasn't exactly like the movie but it was amazing and I don't think we will soon forget it.
     Something that caught my attention this time, though, was about Adam and Milly.  (Yes I know this was just a story but hear me out please.)  They knew, almost at first sight, that they were meant for each other.  They knew very little, well really nothing about the other.  But they both knew they were to be together.  Now I'm not saying it's that way for everyone in real life, but when you're ready for that special relationship, you're ready.  They knew they were ready.
     Was it smooth sailing from then on out?  Absolutely not!  Start with Adam's first 'lie'.  He didn't tell Milly she was going to be cooking and cleaning for seven men and not just him.  He had several opportunities but let that information out.  Did Milly get upset when she found out?  Yes she did.  But she quickly calmed down, regained her composure.  And decided to make the best of her situation because she was in love and had made a covenant with her new husband.  And as the play emphasized more than the movie did, marriage is for a lifetime. 
     Around the middle of the play, Adam helped his brothers kidnap the girls they were in love with.  Now this part has always made me wonder......if it's 12 miles to and from town and they started out at night, it probably took them at the very least 6 or 7 hours to make their round trip to town and back to the farm, plus the time it took to kidnap six girls.  Didn't Milly wonder why she suddenly had the place all to herself all night long?  Anyway, with the girls kidnapped and brought back to the farm, Milly had to figure out what to do because her husband and brothers obviously were thinking of themselves and not much of anything else.
     So here we go.  Milly made all the men sleep in the barn while the kidnapped girls had the house.  That didn't set too well with Adam.  After all, he was the head of the house.  When Milly wouldn't let him stay in the house with her, he got so mad and left her.  No cell phone.  No land line.  Not even a party line.  No means of communication whatsoever.  And Milly hadn't even told him she was pregnant.  Ever have an argument like that?  Where there was no communication to clarify?  No way to apologize.  Alone with your thoughts.  And sometimes those thoughts are not so good.
     Milly wasn't really alone as she had a dozen people with her.  But she missed Adam.  She couldn't tell him this though because he was gone.  And she couldn't go find him up on the mountain.  The only way up there was on horseback and she had never even been there before.  Besides she was pregnant and chaperoning six young couples all by herself.
     Adam was alone though.  He thought about Milly.  He later admitted he couldn't get her off his mind.  But his pride wouldn't let him leave that mountain cabin.  So he spent his time alone.  No TV.  No radio.  No internet or Words With Friends on his cell phone.  Just alone.
     Sometimes real life really is like this.  We can't seem to even communicate with those we love the most.  We've been selfish.  Pride gets in the way.  We think and think and think just way too much.  And like Adam and Milly, we hurt.  Solution?  Oh wow.  In real life, God is always the first place to go.  Ask His forgiveness.  Then ask Him how to deal with your spouse.  Like Adam and Milly, restoration is always the goal.  Will we always agree on everything?  Of course not.  But allowing your spouse to have an opinion, a view, and trying to see things from that view and not just your own will completely change not only your outlook but also your ability to communicate.
     Like going to the play.  Wasn't my husband's first choice of things to do on that night or any other for that matter.  But he was very unselfish.  Didn't let pride get in the way by saying it was just for women and acting like he was too good for it.  As it turned out, he had a great time!  And driving home afterwards?  Well, like teenagers again.  With me sitting in the middle of the seat and his arm around me.  Awwwwwwwww..........