Wednesday, February 13, 2008 - Update

A MARRIAGE

By Michael Blumenthal

You are holding up a ceiling with both arms.

It is very heavy, but you must hold it up,

or else it will fall down on you.

Your arms are tired, terribly tired,

and, as the day goes on, it feels as if either your arms

or the ceiling will soon collapse.

But then, unexpectedly, something wonderful happens:

Someone, a man or a woman,

walks into the room

and holds their arms up to the ceiling beside you.

So you finally get to take down your arms.

You feel the relief of respite,

the blood flowing back to your fingers and arms.

And when your partner's arms tire,

you hold up your own to relieve him again.

And it can go on like this for many years

without the house falling.

Ryan and I have always enjoyed this poem. . .in fact we had it printed up in our wedding program. We live by it's message every day. I remember many times calling each other from work after a long, hard day and we only had to say, "I'm going to need you to hold the ceiling up tonight." That was all that was needed in order to let the other know how bad our day was. There have been many times in the past 5 1/2 months that neither one of us has been able to hold up the ceiling. During those times, an amazing thing has happened. A former 1 lb. 1.5 oz little girl has raised her hands up high and held the ceiling for all three of us. Of course, this is a strength that can only come from God, our Heavenly Father. God sent her to us to give us strength, joy, peace and love and for that I will be forever thankful.

All three of us remain healthy and for that I am thankful as well.