When we first starting dating, I went out of my way to try to impress Shannon. In fact, I used to send her a dozen roses every month on the anniversary of our first date.

I know what you're thinking, "That Jimmy has mad skills!" And you would be totally right!!!

The monthly flower arrangements lasted for six whole months! Until my dad found out.

Let me explain.

When I decided to pay the delivery charge for the first set of roses, the florist asked, "Aren't you Pastor Jim McIlrath's son?" I said, "Yes, Ma'am." She followed up with, "Do you want to put this on his charge account?" Ummm.... I paused for a brief second to consider this amazing opportunity! I immediately followed with another, "Yes, Ma'am!!!!"

Every month, I went to the same florist and had the same conversation, which resulted in the same free delivery of flowers to my smokin' hot girlfriend! It was the perfect plan! Life was good!!!

Notice that I typed was...

It was going great, until we invited Shannon over for dinner one evening. During the course of evening conversation, Dad asked Shannon where her family lived. She replied very politely, "On Lakeview Circle." There was a brief pause. Dad leaned back, thought a moment and then fired back another question to Shannon while staring straight at me, "Is that 198 Lakeview Circle?" Shannon was a little confused as to why my Dad would know her street address. Knowing something was up, she answered cautiously, "Yes..."

Like a lawyer putting all the facts together to make his final argument to the jury... he went for the full confession, "Has my son been sending you flowers?" She replied, "Every month!" Then she followed with an impressive, "Jimmy's so sweet!"

I'm sure my dad was thinking of a few different words to describe me!

Come to find out, he had been paying the monthly bills thinking that mom was ordering flowers for church members. Only recently had he really been giving attention to the address.

Needless to say, the days of free floral deliveries ceased.

It's amazing how most relationships start off so strong and then something happens... and they end up sputtering out. Why does the excitement seem to fizzle and fade over time? You might have a similar story in your marriage, just told a little differently.

He used to send me flowers until...
She used to give me encouraging letters until...
We used to spend time together until...
Things used to be really good until...

Here's the deal, I truly believe that our marriages can be great again! We don't have to speak of the good times as something that has simply come and gone. I bet you would be surprised to learn that the Bible has a lot to say about keeping passion and excitement in our marriages. Don't believe me? Read Song of Solomon chapter seven right now! But only read it with your spouse... DO NOT read this for family devotional time (you've been warned).

The reality is that there are some things that we can do in our relationships right now that will not only make our marriage last but will make it amazing again!

If you would like to learn new ways to make your marriage great again (or better than it's ever been), plan to join us for this year's MarriedPeople Night out on Saturday, October 17th. We'll have the opportunity to learn from a few of the best communicators in the business. We're also going to give you a chance to have a date night away from the kiddos.

...You do remember what date night is like, right?

It is going to be a fantastic evening!

If you haven't registered, what are you waiting for? You can register by clicking here.

You can also invite your friends to come! The more, the merrier!

I look forward to continuing our new series "Blessed" this Sunday! More info about this great series below.

Blessings,
Rev. Jimmy McIlrath