Tag: Romance

  • Romance in the Bible!

    Let him kiss with the kisses of his mouth

    For your love is better than wine.  Song of Solomon 1:2  NKJV

    Who says there’s no romance in the Bible?  This book negates that notion.  It’s a testament of the deep, abiding love and romance between a man and a woman.

    Only one chapter with seventeen verses, God uses the marriage relationship between a man and a woman to show us what that relationship should be but also shows the relationship between God and His children which is another aspect of the book.  The commitment theme runs throughout the book as the woman and man converse with one another and it echoes God’s commitment to His children.

    Detailing a couple’s story from their first meeting to courtship and then their marriage, the book isn’t in chronological order.  Instead, we read the magnificent snapshots of the man and woman’s romantic and sensual human love.  Their desires are God-given, and they are committed to one another throughout the book.

    Today’s verse is the maiden’s passionate desire for her beloved.  To experience his love. She is strong and dynamic but doesn’t initiate the kiss but asks for him to kiss her because she recognizes he is the leader and is to be respected. His love energizes her. She adores her man.

    This is what love and romance look like.  Today, it’s sad to see both the man and the woman want to be the stronger of the two within a relationship and don’t seek God for their role within the relationship.

    When my husband and I were about to be married, we went through marriage counseling even though we were seasoned adults.  What struck my core was when my husband said to me, “Honey, I’m only middle management.  I have to answer to God if I mistreat you.”  Talk about a man who understands his position within marriage. Those two little sentences emphasized how we would succeed.  Side-by-side with Jesus central to our marriage. My husband lifted me up when I was down and I did the same for him when necessary. We’ve practiced being one another’s strength for almost twenty years.  We’ve had our bumps in the road but through it all, we both knew Jesus was the strand that kept us bound and influenced how we’d move forward.

    How is Jesus central to your marriage?

  • Reading Romances

    When I look back at all the romances I’ve read over the years, it seems to me they have changed.  No longer do readers want “just” a romantic movie or book where the central theme is a love story and there’s a satisfying end to the story.  Most of the time that means “lives happily ever after”.

    No, today’s reader wants something extra.  Whether it be the amount of heat, that’s in a book or a movie or something suspenseful, today’s romance has a secondary and sometimes a tertiary plot running through the novel.  Then there are sub-genres: paranormal, western, Amish, inspirational, contemporary, historical, young adult, erotic or suspense.  A veritable smorgasbord to choose from!  And each person who loves a good romance has a different perspective on what they like or don’t like.

    These days the category or series romances are popular.  Personally, I love them because some of the same beloved characters show up again in another story!  Or sometimes it’s the setting where all the stories take place. It doesn’t matter, readers love them.

    While researching what surprised me was the number of men who read them.  A whopping 18% of all readers are men.  The men I know wouldn’t touch them unless they were being forced to as is the case with my husband who gives me feedback on dialogue.  Perhaps men who read them are incredibly secure in their own masculinity to do so.

    The statistics on the age of readers today were also surprising.  I would have thought it would be more baby boomers, but it wasn’t.  Very frequent readers were under the age of 34!  And only 64% were e-book reader which also surprised me.  Personally, I use a service with my iPad mini to read as many as I can in a month for a small monthly fee.

    There are other statistics regarding romance readership but these were the most interesting.

    Are you surprised by the statistics?  What’s your favorite sub-genre of romance?

     

  • Life, Romance and Faith

    Life

    A blip in time that fades quickly. Too quickly. People fade in and out of our lives.  Some stay while some disappear into that frothy mist that clouds our hearts and minds never to return.  Others come and go diminishing the bonds that held them to you in the first place.  Finally, others leave us to fend for ourselves when they move on to a heavenly domain.  And yet, we are loved by those who have come and gone before us.

    We see God’s love for us in the flowers with their myriad of colors and scents.  With the multitude of the twinkling stars in the heavens.   With the soft rains that fall on dormant grasses.  With the trees that gently sway in the slight breezes, giving glory to Him as they rise toward the heavens.  With the oceans that gently roll on pristine beaches.  With the snow that blankets the hills and valleys.  God gave us the gift of nature.  It’s beautiful and it’s romantic.

    Romance…

    was and is a gift from God.  How can it not be?  All things from God are gifts.  His love for us is unconditional.  And we experience that romance and love when we find that one person who speaks to our heart.  Who fills it like no other human can.  But there’s still that singular place in our heart that God reserves for Himself, and rightfully so.
    I have a romantic heart, what can I say?  I’ve always believed in the power of love.  It can overcome any hurdle in life.  And when coupled with a dash of romance, it’s nothing short of amazing.

    It’s a note or text to your spouse telling him you love him with a funny emoji.  While you are sleeping, it’s your husband’s hand on your arm whispering a prayer for you.  Less important but not trivial, it’s a bouquet of flowers or a small gift for no reason at all.  It’s giving up that last piece of chocolate when it’s his favorite so you can have it.  It’s the deep-down knowledge that you are loved.

    Faith 

    How to describe it? It’s such an intangible word.  Christians define it as “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen.” (Heb 11:1) Webster’s defines it as the “unquestioning belief that does not require proof or evidence; unquestioning belief in God, religious tenets.”

    For me, the “unquestioning belief in God” epitomizes what I feel and think about Faith.  I can’t see Him but I know He’s there.  Listening to every prayer, seeing me in all my frailty and yet, He still loves me.  He still loves you.

    This blog is dedicated to all broad and narrow topics of Life, Romance, and Faith.