Happy Romance Day
Real talk couples. Today is February 12, just two days away from expected, anticipated, and celebrated Valentines Day. For many, Valentines Day represents a national, even international, call for people to be intentional about connecting with love interest at all dating stages, including the beginning stage for those seeking coupling.
Are you planning something special? Are you among the many who wait for Valentine's Day to be intentional about planning a romantic evening, or better yet, just simply taking the opportunity to express your love and or affection, appreciation, and gratefulness for the special somebody in your life that you plan to acknowledge on February 14th. Let me encourage you to enjoy the national live day but to also resolve in your heart to create daily expressions of love and memories. Love is greatest when you truly share yourself, your space, and your life.
Relationships, expecially covenant relationships are about daily connections with one another to nurture your relationship to honor and glorify God. Daily connection also prepares your relationships for difficult seasons and challenges. It's like reaping and storing up your harvest to not only survive the famine, but to live without lack. Famine could be anything from health trauma, financial hardship, emotional distance, or anything that causes you to make a withdrawal to your love account (instead of the daily deposit you normallymake by being intentional to express love through connection every day of the year).
Choosing Love Every Day (Even when the feeling fades)
Let's continue to explore God's model of love for you to experience happy, healthy marriages that last because your foundation is strong. Feelings change and can’t be trusted as a foundation of love. But God’s design for love is based on an act of will and sacrifice, not fleeting desire. The most important element of this concept is an intentional decision to love in contrast to automatic feelings that you can't control.
James and I know how important understanding this model is for couples to create lasting relationships. We both experienced the pain of divorce. I'm not trying to minimize any marital situation that has caused anyone to consider divorce. I just want to encourage couples never to use a permanent solution to resolve a temporary problem. Couples will have conflict, difficulty, and seasons of disconnect. This is when every decision we make can strengthen our bonds of covenant despite the emotion we are temporarily experiencing. Feelings are fickle. If love depended on emotion alone, even the strongest relationships would crumble under life’s weight.