When you open a fine bottle of wine, you need to give it time to breathe in order to truly experience its intricacies. An older bottle especially needs to breathe because exposing the wine to air allows unfavorable compounds like sulfites and ethanol to evaporate. It also allows the wine to develop more favorable tastes and bloom…to develop its “nose” so more of your senses are involved when you sip it. It just makes the whole experience more delightful.
Marriage is a lot like a fine bottle of wine. If it’s precious…and rare…you treasure it. You want it to last. So, like a rare wine, you have to age it well. You keep it at the perfect temperature so as to let it mellow and become more complex. You tend to it by keeping it safe from the dangers of outside forces. Then, when a special occasion comes around and you want to celebrate, you open it up.
But if you just pour it out and drink it down, you’re going to be terribly disappointed. It’ll be bitter and acrid. You might even be tempted to just dump the whole thing down the drain. If you do, you could miss out on the most amazing experience of your life. You could miss all those beautiful and complex floral notes, or the rich and robust oaky flavors that can only come from something you’ve guarded and protected and treated right over the years.
We woke up yesterday to a sunny, gorgeous Valentine’s Day. I made the perfect breakfast…popcorn pancakes, bacon, and eggs. I did the dishes. We filled the bird feeders. I worked on the blanket I’ve been trying to make. It’s REALLY a tricky pattern but I am determined to keep trying. We sat down to watch another episode or two of Bull, and I got a notification on my phone.
“Send your Valentine a custom greeting with photos and music.”
I connected, typed in my sentiment, and selected as many pictures of the two of us as I could find, and sent it via text to Mr. FixIt sitting in his Big Red Chair across the room from me.
His phone dinged and he picked it up. I could see the curiosity on his face then the music started and our life together unfolded in front of his eyes. He softened…kinda melted, really. And the look he gave me was all the Valentines in the world wrapped in a big red bow.
When you take good care of something old and precious, it rewards you a hundredfold. I’m so glad I have taken such good care of this particular vintage. It is divine…because we let it breathe.
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”The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”“
Genesis 2:18 NIV