A Night of Romance

You hear it often said that when you fall down - you've got to "get back on the horse"... Well - I have definitely 'fallen' out of habit of blogging... I have had to battle some inconveniences in my life: Sickness, late nights, early mornings, a baby requiring most of my attention... But no excuses... I'm a slacker and must improve... So here's my first step towards 'Blog Rehabilitation'... 

Our ministry tried doing something different this year for a fund raiser... Normally - we do a banquet/dinner complete with entree, baked potato, roll, salad, cheesecake, etc... It's normally done in late March and is accompanied by live music or a theatrical program of some kind from our student ministry... This year we went for a different approach... We put on a Valentine's Dinner, instead... We asked our married couples to purchase a ticket and come and enjoy a romantic evening of dinner and dancing... As the sweet sounds of the violin filled the air - We began with an "Olive Garden-esque" salad - followed by a heaping plate of penne pasta and meatballs smothered in marinara... And yes - there were plenty of rolls to go around... For dessert - chocolate fountains (which ended up being more like fondue) where our 'love birds' dipped strawberries, bananas, angel food cake, and marshmallows into the streams of gooey goodness... 

After a fun quiz of romantic history - we made our way to the gym where our couples were treated to a 'fox trot' lesson... They twirled - they swayed - they spun - and they laughed as they circled the gym saying to themselves, "slow - slow - quick, quick"... What a pleasure it was getting to spend Valentine's Day enjoying the gift of marriage with these fine people...

It is so important for the Body of Christ to take marriage seriously... It's an area where we don't always provide a great deal of opportunity for enjoyment, or creating intimacy... Between our work schedules, activities, kids, and (even) church stuff - we can miss out on one of the BIGGEST parts that God meant for marriage - FUN & INTIMACY!!! God never intended for any of us to ' suffer through' our marriages... He wants us to love it... He wants us to love each other in such a way that is reflective of how much HE LOVES US...

"Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her..." (Ephesians 5:25)

So - I hope that none of us wait another 363 days to be loving to our spouses... A night of romance can happen more then one day a year!