Are the words “I love you”, hard to say? Do they get weird and awkward 15, 18 or 20 years after they were first said? I have to admit I don’t say the words to my husband often. No, I don’t.

Some of you will probably cringe at that.

Others will probably go … I don’t either.

It doesn’t mean the sentiment isn’t true. Does it? I mean, I only said my vows once, do I need to repeat them over and over to make them still relevant?

I DO love my husband. But I don’t need to say those three words to make how I feel real. I show it through laughter, time together, intimacy, shared activities, support … among a huge variety of other activities.

Just like my vows. I don’t repeat them, but I honor, respect, cherish, plan to do so ’til death-do-us-part, etc. I just don’t say them out loud.

Often.

As a matter of fact … a LONG time ago, I almost thought the use of “I love you” became overused. Like we said it too often and it no longer had that ‘punch’.

Now, though, when one or the other of us does say those three words, they make my heart swell. My face gets all hot and I actually get all smiley and nervous-like. Those words mean one or the other of us had a ‘moment’ where the memory of why we fell in love in the first place really hit us. Or, at least, that’s why ‘I love you’ is said by me.

What about those vows?

I remember, almost-24-years-ago, that I was super excited about saying those words. About sharing in that sentiment. About telling my soon-to-be-husband that I meant every word. I’ve often wanted to renew our vows, but as my husband says … “Why? I still mean them. Why do they need to be said?”

That’s a great question. He’s right. I’m just one of those that likes things like this.

Well … here’s where the fun starts. At church this weekend, our pastor continued his ‘Modern Family’ series. This weekend was all about the demise of marriage—that 50% end in divorce, that so many divorce after 25 years together, that we are so focused on our kids that we forget to be a couple. So when the kids are gone … what do they have? Those were just three little pieces of the larger whole. You can click the link above to listen to the series if you want.

My husband and I have been together for 24 years this August (18 married). Personally, I have to say I can’t wait until my kids are grown. I love my kids, don’t get me wrong, but I enjoy their independence. Why beyond the obvious of no diapers and less cost? In the last 2 years, hubby and I have had even more time … together. In fact, on Friday night, we had our date night which included one errand and one great dinner.

You see … I LOVE spending time with my husband. He’s my best friend. My everything. And now that our kids are happy staying together every once in a while, we’ve started to enjoy our time together. I look forward to years 25-50 with him because we can be ‘us’ again. More mature. Still friends. Still with plenty of problems, but that’s par for the course.

So this weekend fit right in with our awesome evening out because at the end of the presentation, our pastor gave all married couples a chance to renew their vows!

Yup!

And we did!

We got to kiss, too. 🙂

Standing with our 14 year old son as our ‘witness’, we faced each other, held hands and repeated words we’ve only said one other time … August 13, 1994. He first. Me second. We might have giggled a little at it and even altered a few words here and there in our repetition, but we did when we married, too. Me because I was so freakishly giddy at getting married (I was 20) and he from nerves.

Even though it was impromptu, it reminded me that I meant those vows so long ago. And I mean them now, too. Yes, yes, yes, I do! And I know he does. 🙂

Because I love him. Always have. Always will.

And this is why I love writing romance.

How about you? If you had a chance to renew your marriage vows … on the spot … impromptu … with a couple hundred other people (or not) … would you?

Share in the comments!

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