• Boy meets girl.
• Boy falls in love with girl.
• Boy proposes to girl.
• Boy marries girl.
• Boy and girl live happily ever after.

But what if it wasn’t love?  What if it was indigestion?  And what happens to a marriage based on love when that love wanes?

The Storybook Romance

Once upon a time, marriages were determined by parents and involved long courtships.  The couple had little input and they were taught that they had to love one another—unconditionally love that other person.  They had to grow to have feelings for them, or if they never had feelings for them they still had to stay with that person.

Today, through a steady diet of movies and television shows, our culture believes that marriage is entirely based on the feeling of being “in love”—something that can come and go throughout any relationship.

Marriage Is About A Promise

But marriage isn’t about love, or feeling “in love”, marriage has always been about a promise.  The promises that are found in the vows that are exchanged.  Vowing to love, honor and cherish.  Vowing to be with the other person no matter what happens.  That’s what marriage is all about.

The lie that we’ve been fed is a nasty one, because it gives cover to the person in the couple to break their promise when times get difficult (and times usually get difficult).  The vows that are made need to mean more than just trifle utterances or things that are said when “in love”.  They need to be things that we can’t go back on.

Only then will we have strong marriages that stand for years.

As accepted as premarital sex has become in our culture, I think that’s as far as the opposite direction as a lot of Christians are with talking about it.

Think about it. You may hear people talk about premarital sex, but how often do we hear about marital relations and how important they are to a marriage? Sex is just as vital to your marriage as any other aspect.

That’s why I want to encourage you to take The Diaper Diaries’ 1 Corinthians 7:5 challenge. See how the challenge got started here and commit yourself to re-energizing your sex life with your husband.

Sex within the boundaries of marriage is not something nasty, something bad, or something that should be looked at as a chore. It is a blessing from God; it is in His word that we as wives have sex with our husband — and often.

So get involved! Take the 1 Cor. 7:5 challenge! I think you — and your husband! — will be very blessed for it.

Knowing that many different answers could get himself in trouble, Noah took a deep breath and said, “Huh?”

Classic avoidance, or in other words, he played dumb.  Struggling in exasperation, Laura jumped up from her place at the table and walked off.  Knowing that these things rarely end well when she leaves, he took off following her and found her in the bedroom.

“What were you saying?” he asked.

“I just noticed that while we were at the mall yesterday that you seemed to notice everyone around, but when we’re together you hardly ever notice me that way.  What’s the deal?”

“Well, I don’t know.  Perhaps it’s because we see each other so often, and we’re so familiar with each other.  I mean, look at how you’re dressed now.”

“Well, you’re not exactly dressed up either.”’

“True, but that’s not the point.”

“There’s a point?!”

“Yes, there is.  When we were dating we always took time to make sure that we looked our best—I even brushed my teeth before coming over.  Now that we’re married it seems like you put in more effort to get yourself looking good for everyone else but me.”

“But you’ve seen me in—“

“—that hot Christmas outfit you wear, sure.  But it’s hard to get that excited when all I ever see you in is frumpy sweatpants!”  He ducked as a pillow came flying in his direction.

So, who’s right?  Should Laura get dressed up for her husband, or should Noah just learn to appreciate his wife in whatever she finds to wear?