In August, Jan and I will celebrate 50 years of marriage. One thing has been present in our relationship for all those years – touch. Whether it’s a hug, puckered lips offering a kiss, or a love pat in passing, I want Jan to experience my love for her every day.  Along with physical touch, I want her to also hear words that express my love for her. My expressions of love, both physical and verbal, elicit the same from Jan toward me. Several times during the day, when each of us is in a different room, I will shout out “I love you!” I will hear Jan respond with the same words coming from another room. These are the twinkle-in-the-eye moments that remind us that the passion of our love is still ignited.

Love needs to be expressed outside the context of relational duty. That is the nature of worship. It’s not just walking into a sanctuary and standing there thinking that’s enough. Love requires engagement and expression. It doesn’t mean a relationship needs to sound like some sappy romance novel, but it does mean love requires expression of some kind letting the object of our love know we see, appreciate, and want them.

Just writing this has me planning my next move on Jan. In many ways, I still feel like a twenty-something falling madly in love with a girl named Janice Parry, a beauty who first caught my eye as she walked across the campus 53 years ago. As our natural love has deepened it is a reminder that our worship of God will also deepen over the years. Our life together as husband and wife has become less complicated and more comfortable over the years. It’s a relationship of ongoing awe and appreciation of the gift of love we share, a gift that we and other married couples have been given and entrusted to steward with increasing passion as the years unfold.