The Constant

A year ago today, Rob and Ayla got engaged at sunset on the Grand Strand in Garden City Beach, S.C. This place has a special significance to our family because we have spent many vacations there. My mother's best friend, Carole Filtz, owns the condo, and we've been blessed to stay there, explore the area thoroughly and make memories to last a lifetime. For Rob to select this location to propose to our daughter and add just one more precious memory to this place - where Brad and I spent our honeymoon - is endearing to us. When Rob and Ayla were selecting a wedding date that would work around their culinary schedules and the heavy tourist seasons of Florida, October was one option. The fact that they selected our wedding anniversary for their wedding date again brought us so much joy and honor. But I remember Ayla commenting how far away October seemed. I said to her, "It will fly by, you'll see." Now we are less than four months away and it has certainly flown by. And we are saying the same thing to our son lamenting the fact that his wedding date is just under a year away.

This has been quite a year for Rob and Ayla. Both with a new job or promotion, car problems, a residence change, loss of a loved one, new adventures and discoveries, bumps in the spiritual road and growth as well, new achievements, new friends and lots and lots of planning. And they have exciting adventures ahead with their marriage, honeymoon and new residence together. It is amazing what can happen in one orbit around the sun. When I look back in old photo albums, it amazes me all the wonderful things we have seen, experienced and enjoyed. Even the challenging, scary and sad events have grown us each year. Praising God amidst all change and the passage of time, that we - like the constant of having a familiar condo vacation spot each year to return to - have one particular Constant forever in our lives, and that is Christ.

He doesn't change. He doesn't leave us. He loves, listens, forgives and guides us. Hebrews 13:8 says, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever," and Psalm 62:7 says,"In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God." How blessed we are to know that each and every day we have our Father in heaven, our Savior Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit as a constant. Praise His name!

We congratulate Rob and Ayla on the anniversary of their engagement and get more and more excited each day as we get closer to your wedding. May you each be a precious constant to one another throughout your earthly lives! God bless you both, the days leading up to your nuptials, the wedding, reception, honeymoon and your marriage!

Discussion: Share a specific memory of this past year? How has it changed or grown you? What advice would you have for couples with long engagements? How has God shown He is a Constant in your life?

Prayer: Father God, we thank You for what you accomplish in us each year. We thank You for this time of preparation for Rob and Ayla, Anton and Kayla and all engaged couples as they prepare for a lifetime of loving each other. May they, Father, always rest assured that You are there with them. We love you so much. In Jesus, Amen.

Sweeter Than Honeymoon

When doing research about Italian wedding traditions, I learned about the origin of the honeymoon. Apparently, newlyweds would eat honey every night during an entire moon phase after their wedding, thus the honeymoon. Others say is was mead the couple drank for a month after the wedding. Mead was made of fermented honey and water. Guess "meadmonth" didn't catch on for the post-wedding trip moniker.

These days the honeymoon is the much needed getaway the couple takes after their wedding. It's a time just for the couple, one of intimacy, love and fun. Of late, lazy mornings and sweet, sultry nights ... or vice versa.

Now some folks will use this as a vacation time to go see something new and do some touring. But let us make something very clear to you if you don't already know this: the honeymoon is for sex. Lots and lots of sex. If you plan on making your honeymoon a touring time, you truly have a sad view of the honeymoon. Now we're not saying you can't go see new things and take adventures. We're saying if you plan a day-to-day schedule of places to go and things to see, that is just messed up. It's supposed to be a sweet time with your honey. A time to relax and get to know each other on a personal and physical level. It is also a time to have fun after the sometimes stress of wedding planning and before you return to normalcy and the regular work day.

I know Ayla and Rob have tossed around the idea of seeing the Florida Keys. And Anton and Kayla have mentioned going to the Garden City Beach, SC condo we have frequented where Ayla and Rob were engaged and where Brad and I had our honeymoon. Both ideas are good choices because you can do pretty much whatever you want without feeling pressure to sightsee. I will share that the most recent episode of Brides magazine surveyed 136 brides to ask them if they could do the whole wedding planning over again, what they would splurge on and most brides said "an even better honeymoon." Food for thought.

Did you know the honeymoon is sorta mentioned in Scripture? In Deuteronomy 24:5 it says, "When a man is newly married, he shall not go out with the army or be charged with any related duty. He shall be free at home one year, so he can bring happiness to the wife whom he has married." A whole year! Imagine!

Notice that the honeymoon in ancient times was to last a month. These days, that's pretty hard for full-time employees to try to pull off. But we would recommend the honeymoon last not a week, or month or even a year ... but a lifetime. Not the trip, of course, but the giggly, tender, loving, passion you have during that time. Don't ever let it wane.

So make your plans for a fun, stress-free, sweeter-than-honeymoon ... the trip and the marriage.

Discussion: Where would you like to go for your honeymoon? What do you want to do on your honeymoon? Do you plan on going immediately after your wedding?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, you tell us when a couple is married that two become one flesh. The honeymoon is the place where that all begins in glory and honor to You. Thank you for what you have created for couples. In Jesus' name, Amen.