78 and 29

I recently attended a wedding shower where one of the party games was to guess the number of candies in a jar. I have been historically terrible with this activity, always underestimating the number by quite a bit.  So, attempting to apply that experience to my guess this time, I estimated as usual, then added about 20 more to my guess and chose a number that was not a multiple of 5, thinking that whoever filled the jar probably wanted to make it trickier. My educated guess was 78. To my amazement, the bride-to-be announced that the winner, who had guessed the number exactly, was me! The prize for this feat was to take home the jar of candy.

At home later, I told the story to my husband, but I did not divulge the number or any hint of the amount.  He walked by the jar, barely taking a glance, and said, very nonchalantly, “78”.  My jaw dropped!  Not only had I done the practically impossible by guessing the exact amount, but he had just matched my answer without even taking time to examine the jar! What in the world????

Then, just yesterday, we visited a large flea market in search of an elusive item we needed for a project. We had walked through all the buildings by the upper parking lot and walked down a set of concrete stairs to the rest of the buildings.  After a fruitless search of those buildings, we headed back to our van by way of those same concrete steps.  We walked side by side up the steps with no conversation, but when we reached the top, we both spontaneously looked at each other and said, “29!”  That was the number of steps on the staircase. We had both been mentally counting, for whatever reason, and decided at the same moment to make that big announcement.

What is my point? When people have been married for a long time, it is said they can finish each other’s sentences.  How does that happen?  It’s not because they once stood at an altar and made promises to each other.  It’s because they have talked together day after day, year after year. They have seen each other react to many situations.  They have listened to each other tell the same stories to other people over and over.  A serious investment of time together makes it possible for two to become one. The knowing is in the life together – not in the vows.

I believe it’s like that in our relationship with God.  We begin to talk the way He talks, know His heart, and think like He thinks only when we spend time with Him.   It doesn’t happen automatically the day we go to an altar and repeat a prayer, vowing to follow Him.  The knowing is in the life together – not in the vows.