food for fish

Twenty One Years.

In ten days I will officially be twenty-one years of age. Woo hoo. So I can now get drunk legally, yay. Not going to happen. But I do like the fact that I can now go to twenty-one and over shows, go to bars, where you can find decent food late at night, no more Denny's or Sherry's for me, well that's a lie, but I can try. Oh yeah, I can even buy alcohol for myself now, wow what a privilege.

Picture this: Travis entering some dance club, lets say, Poly�s. He has a few drinks, does some dancing has some more, dances more� the night goes long. He�s wasted in the end, doesn�t know how he got to wherever he is, but there�s about 5 others, yay, and they all are sick to their stomachs� Sounds great, not to mention the fact that clothes are missing. Well I�ve seen it all, and no thanks, people laugh at it because it�s stupid, grow up, please.

But I do like the fact that I can now find good food late at night! But I can now have wine and Champaign for those special occasions�

Picture this: It�s a late summer early fall kind of night, the stars are out over the Seattle skyline, and the moon shining brightly over the cascades, the air is crisp. The wind is blowing, and I can barely hear her. Since a ferry�s bow is whatever direction is forward we stand at the �bow� of a ferry, I�m thinking the Bremerton/Seattle run.

We�ve just returned from an awesome rock show at the Roxy in Bremerton, I�m thinking something along the lines of Switchfoot and, since this is in the future, Strange Occurrence- they�ve hit it big. We had an awesome time of worship, fun, and just simple fellowship. We�ve been �courting� for a year now, I�ve had many awesome and wise people counsel me on my way to making one of the single most important decisions in my life, I�m feeling the momentum building. Her parents are in on it, they said God has blessed each of us they know this will work, so they�ve arranged to call her at 12:30am. I know I love her, and I know that God has chosen her for me, and I for her.

The phone rings, I�m not sure what they are telling her, but I quietly sneak back to the car. I grab the bottle of strawberry or raspberry wine (something sweet, because she is), the wine glasses (a mysterious blue/purple color, because she is) and the ring (a creative, but simple silver or white gold band with a single diamond, because she is the single woman for me). I put all this in a back pack, I return to the bow, where the wind is howling, and the air is getting colder, the Seattle skyline is now in it�s full glory. She asks me where I went, and what�s the bag for, and her parents sneakingly tell her God is good, and have a good night. I first pull out the wine bottle; her bright green eyes grow large. Second, I pull out a glass for her and a glass for me, as I reach for my glass, I put the ring on the tip of my index finger, upside down, so she doesn�t see the diamond, she doesn�t even notice the ring. I pop the cork to the wine, I savor the smell, and with a smile she does too.

As I�m talking to her, letting her know how much fun I�ve had, and how much I feel God is truly the center of our relationship, I poor my glass first, set it down, and as I poor hers, I let the ring fall in to it. I ask her to pray with me, so we celebrate and worship God in his creation. As I�m praying I thank God for her how she is as sweet as the wine, and as mysterious as the color of the wine glasses, and how simple yet complicated all at once, just as a diamond, and that I believe she is the single women for me, for the rest of my living days on earth. I end our prayer in thanksgiving, and I as I take my first sip, I stop, as she does the same, she had looked into her glass during the prayer, and saw the ring, and she is beaming with delight. She looks at me, makes a soul connection, tears begin to flow down both of our cheeks. I take the ring from the wine glass, the wind is cold, and Seattle grows closer. I take her hand, and I slip the ring on questioningly, and she nods her head, it�s a yes. She sets the wine down, and I do the same. I tell her �I love you�, this is the first time she has heard these words from me, but she knows why it�s the first time, it�s because I did not want our relationship to focus on becoming married, but rather on God. We hug, and stare off into the city�s lights, and we sip on the sweet wine from the mysterious glasses.

Now what use of alcohol honors God?