Bells shall peal

From Dictionary.com (a frequent resource):

en·gage
[en-geyj] verb,-gaged, -gag·ing

–verb (used with object)

1. to occupy the attention or efforts of (a person or persons): He engaged her in
conversation.

2. to secure for aid, employment, use, etc.; hire: to engage a worker; to engage a room.

3. to attract and hold fast: The novel engaged her attention and interest.

4. to attract or please: His good nature engages everyone.

5. to bind, as by pledge, promise, contract, or oath; make liable: He engaged himself to repay his debt within a month.

6. to betroth (usually used in the passive): They were engaged last week.

7. to bring (troops) into conflict; enter into conflict with: Our army engaged the enemy.

8. Mechanics. to cause (gears or the like) to become interlocked; interlock with.

9. to attach or secure.

10. (Obsolete) to entangle or involve.

This is my first post as a betrothed woman. I could not be happier! Zack asked me to marry him on the evening of October 23rd, just a little over a year from when we starting dating. Not all of the above definitions fit our present relationship status, but I thought it was pretty neat to consider their dictionary meanings in the context of our engagement. (silly, girly grin inserted here)

~@~

While Zack was cleaning this afternoon I got the chance to help him. He was vacuuming in the living room and asked me to pick up the area rug, shake the dust off, and then place it back down after he had run the vacuum cleaner over it. At one point during this process he exclaimed, "Yay, I have a helper!"

~@~

Probably about two weeks ago we were talking with two of the priests at church and they were congratulating us on our engagement. One shared that Thomas Aquinas wrote quite a bit on marriage and was asked at want point in the ceremony he believed the two people were "married:" at the exchanging of vows, rings, or the blessing of the priest, etc. He responded that he believed marriage truly started at engagement. Another way I saw this idea presented recently was through an article on RELEVANTmagazine.com:

"It was in this that I found my purpose for our engagement. The year and a half Libby and I are spending in the awkward chasm known as engagement will be spent living out our vows. I said it to her this way:

'I do these things because I want my actions in our engaged life to be my vows to you. Before our wedding day, before I utter any words, I want these actions to speak so much more loudly as my vows.' " -- Tom Hagedon

While there are still plans to be made and other events that will take place before we are married, we are taking this time to live our vows to each other and grow together. Zack's exclamation during our afternoon o' cleaning just hit me as a very poignant statement, one of mutual simplicity and profundity. I get to be his helper, by his side through life and him right beside me. That is exciting!

Bring on the dusting. We're teamed up and ready.