LEAD. August 2020 | Page 39

joining those two pieces together rarely goes
as smoothly as we’d hoped. Because, well,
the pieces are broken. Me. You. Him. Her. Us.
We’re all a mess. When problems arise, that
messiness can either push us together or pull
us apart.
I used to think that when Genesis tells how
that first couple was naked and unashamed,
it meant they didn’t have any clothes on and
were okay with that. But I think it means they
were spiritually and emotionally bare too.
That’s how relationship works best. You let
that person see who you really are, faults and
all, and you trust that person because love is
grace. And grace looks past faults to find the
good.
So, you see, this story really is romantic. Not
romance like Fifty Shades or long moonlit walks
on the beach. Real romance is someone who’ll
drive the car while you hunt for a bathroom
because your stomach’s in knots. Real love is
someone who will laugh because, praise the
Lord, you found a toilet on the mean streets of
Lake Michigan.
Sarah and I had a lot more laughs that week.
We even had a few candlelight dinners and
long walks on the beach. But you know what
we remember most from that honeymoon?
The story we will always tell? Racing around
the main drag of Traverse City, trying to find a
bathroom. Isn’t it strange what moments stay
with us?
Excerpted from Lead Me: Finding Courage to Fight for Your
Marriage, Children, and Faith Copyright © 2020 by Matt
Hammitt. Published by Multnomah, an imprint of Random
House, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, on February
11, 2020.
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Matt Hammitt is a singer, songwriter, and speaker. He was the
lead singer for the band Sanctus Real from 1996 to 2016. Hammitt
is the recipient of three Dove Awards and has been nominated for
two Grammy Awards. After leaving the band, Hammitt joined the
FamilyLife speaker team as a keynote speaker and performer at
marriage and men’s conferences across the U.S., including Kirk
Cameron’s Living Room Reset events.
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