My husband and tend to see eye to eye on big life decisions, but we don’t share much common ground on music. So, when it came time for us to pick the song for our first dance, we didn’t have many ideas.My sister Treasa gave us a dance lesson as her wedding gift to us—which, by the way, is a terrific wedding gift. At our dance lesson, the instructor talked us through possible dance songs. He recommended a foxtrot for our low experience level, but I didn’t know which songs were fox trots.
He ran through a few. Then he started playing “Can’t Help Falling in Love” by Elvis, and we knew our search was over. John and I might not be planning a trip to Graceland anytime soon, but Elvis is one of the few artists we both appreciate.
And it’s a beautiful song.
We learned some very simple foxtrot steps, just enough to make us feel comfortable in front of our guests, and we went home much less worried about whether we would look clumsy at the reception.
On our wedding day, we danced together as Elvis sang, “Take my hand, take my whole life too, for I can’t help falling in love with you.”
It wasn’t one of my favorite songs before our wedding. But today when I hear the song, I always pause. There’s something so beautiful and powerful about giving someone your hand and your whole life. And that really is what marriage asks of us—and gives us.
You give your whole life, your whole self, to each other every day—and you accept the gift of your spouse in return.
It’s a truly awesome gift that comes with trust and responsibility. It’s powerful and wonderful. It’s simple and incredibly hard. You never know what the day, the week, the month, the year ahead will bring. But you give and receive with openness and love.
As Valentine’s Day approaches, I’ve been thinking about love. And I have been thinking about how the love between spouses is similar to the love between each of us and Jesus.
Jesus loves us fully, completely, as we are. He gives us His whole self—body and blood and divinity—in the Eucharist. He asks us to give Him all of ourselves, too.
As the late Archbishop Fulton Sheen said, “The greatest love story of all time is contained in a tiny white host.”
Jesus loves each of us with a love so rich, so deep, and so true that it transcends any challenges, failures, and suffering we might encounter. And, if we have an open heart and mind and soul, maybe we will discover that we just can’t help falling in love with Him.
