As Brady and I sat in a restaurant on Wrightsville beach, we saw a couple getting married.  Vibrant colors of red and fuchsia beamed from their wedding party, accented by the young couple’s smiles.  The quickly approaching sunset was a flawless setting for the start of their married lives.

It was quite romantic.

After all, romance is a perfect moment between a man and a woman. 

Sunsets or sunrises.  Long walks or long looks in each other’s eyes.  Holding onto dreams or holding hands anywhere. And yet, an enduring romance also takes commitment when perfect is nowhere in sight.

I reflected on a variety of moments as Brady and I celebrated 30 years of marriage in July. On our first date, we rode bikes to the local Dairy Queen.  It was Brady’s idea. However, our 15-year old minds didn’t entertain the idea we’d get married someday.  We just wanted root beer floats and an easy conversation.

A gazillion conversations (and a few root beer floats) later it doesn’t feel like thirty individual years. It’s more like many seasons defined by landmark events; like the places we lived, the challenges we faced, the arrival of our son and the dreams that come true.

We each have a story in the making.  What’s romantic to you?

Whether it’s a candlelit room, the right song or the right words, it may not mean much without the right person.

I’m no love expert but from talking to family and friends and through years of women’s ministry, I’ve heard the gamut of what makes love grand.  And whether we’re waiting for love, healing from a broken heart or trying to keep the fire burning, I’ve found it’s best to keep Love in sight.

To be clear, God is Love (1 John 4:7-8).  He gave us the capacity for passion, creativity and commitment.

Without His love, a romance can easily become an exercise in what’s convenient instead of an experience that enriches us for a lifetime.

From grand displays of affection to thoughtful expressions of kindness, romance has quite the range. It can go from walking into a room filled with roses to rising to the occasion when your loved one needs you the most.  For such heart heroics, I must keep Love in sight.

Without Him, it’s easy to lose perspective because true love is always worth fighting for.

Worth praying for.

Worth remembering.

Worth waiting for.

I’m grateful to report after 30 years of marriage, romance is not obsolete.  It is still fresh and fulfilling.  It’s a different kind of excitement than when we first met. Rather, it is an awe of our oneness and knowing there’s more to experience by God’s grace.

After all, romance sets the mood for something wonderful to happen.  It waits in the background when life is busy or burdensome.  It wants to come to the foreground where committed souls need to connect.  But it takes Love to keep weaving wonder between us.

I pray the young couple on the beach discovers His wonder. I pray wherever you are on your journey you keep Love in your sights too. I’ve found it’s the only way to keep hope for the heart and joy to the soul.

Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love. – 1 Corinthians 13:13 NLT