Neil and Michele McQuire married in our barn 2 months ago. If you’re joining me from Proverbs 31 devotions, welcome!
We live on a farm and have weddings in our barn, every weekend! Marriage, love, weddings and honeymoon conversations are our life!
True love on a wedding day is breathtaking, but what’s more breathtaking-is true love after babies, sleepless nights and hard days turned into years.
Many couples struggle to keep their marriage aflame. Many wives tell me they have no interest in lovemaking, that romance isn’t alive in their marriage anymore. I say to them this, don’t allow that mindset for one second. We don’t want our spouse to look for other things to fulfill what only should be fulfilled by us.
It wasn’t always easy for me either, trust me. I struggled when our children were small and demands were constant. But one day–everything changed. My mindset shifted.It was the day I decided to live The Honeymoon Life, it transformed our marriage.
It all started when this woman told me the tragic end to her love story. When she and her husband married, they couldn’t afford a honeymoon. Kids came and the money to do something special together just never seemed to be there. Her husband worked all the time, so for years she dreamed and planned for the trip she longed for with him—the perfect honeymoon.
When their last child was leaving for college, they finally set up their honeymoon trip. But something awful happened right before they were ready to leave. Her husband was tragically killed in a car accident. Her dreams were shattered.
With a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes, I stood by her feeling helpless to offer the right words. All I could say was, “I’m so sorry.”
Her story affected me deeply. Although my husband was still alive, I didn’t have the honeymoon of my dreams either.My heart sank as she told me the tragic end to her love story.
I didn’t want to pin my hopes on a fancy trip any more.
On that day I decided to live every day as if it were my honeymoon. Rather than a honeymoon trip, I wanted The Honeymoon Life.
I looked for ways to turn ordinary places into exotic destinations. I decided that lovemaking would be relished and not just endured.
We live on a farm with open fields and woods. The possibilities became endless for exotic destinations.
No trip around the world, no lavish hotel, nor any gourmet dish could have competed with that field, the picnic dinners and the way God changed my perspective.
From that day on, I chose the honeymoon life. Not just dreaming of it but living it every day. I’ve set my heart to cherish the simple things, like making my husband’s favorite foods and eating ALL meals together, going to bed at the same time, reading and praying together. Even mundane trips to the store together.
We’ve been living the honeymoon life for 21 years now and have been married for 36. Everything changed the day I made up my mind to live The Honeymoon Life. Last week at one of our weddings a couple saw us running in the rain together with arms locked. When we got to the barn they said, “You two look like you’re the newly weds!” Funny thing is, we feel that we are!
Ask God to help rekindle passion in your marriage, ask Him to help you have desire. Ask Him to take all hindrances away. Once you decide to change your mindset and start making plans for your adventures- desire will come, and The Honeymoon Life will begin.
My husband and I are officially going on our first honeymoon trip to Europe this August!
Past posts on marriage:
A Wrecked Marriage Saved over Lunch
My dear friend, Sharon Jaynes wrote this 14 Day Romance Challenge. You can order it through Proverbs 31 Ministries.
Would you like for me to pray for your marriage? Do you desire The Honeymoon Life? Leave your name in the comment section. I’ll pray for you, and it will enter your name in a drawing to win this Romance Gift Set.
Dear Lord, give me the ability to live the honeymoon life with my husband. Help me to stop focusing on the what if’s of the future and to start focusing on loving to the fullest today. Help me not to have any regrets of how I’ve lived out my married life. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.