It’s an annual angst in our household – the night…
When blue skies collide.
The softer hues of a Carolina blue and the bolder hues of a Kentucky one are both painted richly and displayed proudly on the jerseys of ten, college basketball players as they mark their paces alongside one another within the perimeter of a 94 x 50 wooden court.
It’s forty minutes of back and forth, full speed ahead with programmed stops in between. Count down clocks and time-outs. Fouls and free-throws. Huddles on the bench and high fives with the scores. Strategies along with some occasional luck. Fans, coaches, grumbles and cheers. Winners, losers, laughter and tears. A full gamut of emotions sandwiched in between a referee’s beginning whistle and a buzzer’s conclusion.
It can be exhausting on those nights…
When blue skies collide.
But after twenty-nine years of marriage, we’ve learned to balance those nights. My Carolina boy watches the upstairs’ tv while this Kentucky girl claims dibs on the downstairs’ screen. Funny, I can’t recall any of the decades’ worth of outcomes just now. Bragging rights don’t last long in our household. Why? Because a final score that elevates one blue over the other does little to fuel the marital bond. Instead, when one takes the lead – a softer hue above the bolder or the bolder shade ahead of the softer – well, the bond can be weakened. So rather than claiming winners or losers, Billy and I have decided that it’s better for us to simply stay in the game, stay on the court, and keep the clock running.
Thirty years ago, Billy carried his Carolina Blue onto the campus of Asbury Seminary and parked it beneath the shade of my Kentucky Blue, an unlikely pairing some would say. Regardless, we learned to dance together on that Bluegrass, and then we two-stepped our way back over the mountain and planted our future beneath a Carolina moon. His blue next to mine, blending our colors ever since and until Jesus makes the final call.
Three years ago, another boy named Jadon carried his Carolina Blue onto the campus of Asbury Seminary and parked it beneath the shade of a girl painted in Kentucky Blue. Her name is Kelsi. They, too, have learned to dance on that Bluegrass and, just recently, two-stepped their way back over those Appalachian Mountains. Tomorrow, they will plant their future beneath this Carolina moon. His blue next to hers, blending their colors and pledging their allegiance to God and to one another until He makes the final call.
Blue skies colliding beneath the watchful eyes of their Creator.
And it will be beautiful.
Yes, there will be a lot of back and forth. Some full speed ahead with programmed stops in between. Count down clocks and time-outs. Fouls and free throws. Huddles on the bench and high fives with the scores. Strategies along with some occasional luck. Fans, coaches, grumbles and cheers. Winners, losers, laughter and tears. A full gamut of emotions sandwiched in between the “I dos” and the buzzer’s conclusion.
It will be exhausting at times…
When blues skies collide.
But… it will always be worth it. Why?
Because when blended together – a Carolina Blue alongside a Kentucky Blue – a beautiful, new shade of Blue is created.
A union. A two becoming one flesh with the Master Painter adding his splashes of heavenly grace within. There will be no elevation of one hue over the other. Rather, a blending … a strengthening. An intensity that cannot be reached in isolation.
God’s best blue.
Together, Jadon and Kelsi will move the kingdom forward by blending their stories together and allowing every chapter of their separate pasts to inform and reform their collective future. Their marriage will be a shade of grace that the world needs. I would caution them not to listen to the naysayers; Billy and I had plenty of them along the way. But here we are, twenty-nine years down the road, still running the length of the court and growing our bench of blessing –
Nick, Chelsea and Finley
Colton, Rachel and Eliza
Jadon and Amelia
And now you, Kelsi…
Welcome to the team.
Thank you for choosing Jadon as your dance partner and for embedding your Kentucky Blue into this Carolina soil. May the God who knit you both individually within your mothers’ wombs now knit you together as a couple for his glory and for his gain.
Cheers to you and to this night…
When blue skies collide.
The best is truly yet to be.
Peace for the journey,
Mom