FamilyLife Today® Radio Transcript References to conferences, resources, or other special promotions may be obsolete. Creating A More Romantic MarriageDay 1 of 8Guest: Dennis RaineyFrom the series: Why Romance is Important _______________________________________________________________ (Nat King Cole singing "L-O-V-E") Bob: Believe it or not, this is FamilyLife Today. Our host is best-selling author and conference speaker, Dennis Rainey. I'm Bob Lepine. Stay with us as we talk about L-O-V-E today on FamilyLife Today. And welcome to FamilyLife Today. Thanks for joining us on the broadcast. Dennis: Do you think our listeners know who Nat King Cole is, Bob? Bob: Oh, yeah, everybody knows who Nat King Cole is. I bought a two-record collection when I was in college, just because I thought, "He's got the smoothest voice, it's the most romantic music I've ever heard." Dennis: Well, you know, we also have a lot of romantic adventures at our FamilyLife Marriage Conference, and I've got a letter here from a conferee couple who attended the Phoenix FamilyLife Marriage Conference – I think this was back in 1991. This is a classic, keeper letter from the archives of the thousands of attendees who have been to our conference. Bob: Now, this is on hotel stationery, right? Dennis: That's right – the Hyatt Regency Scottsdale. "Dear Dennis, when you suggested last night for us to be more creative in our romance, you never gave us the warning that it could be dangerous." Then in all capital letters, it reads, "RULE NUMBER 1 – ALWAYS BE PREPARED! AT LEAST WITH A SPARE KEY" – and now the rest of the story. "After dinner and the sunset, we decided to take your advice and to add a little romance and be a little daring. Staying here at the hotel, we crept out onto our fourth-floor balcony for an incredibly romantic view, not to mention some privacy. Unbeknown to us, while we were 'communicating' and 'learning more about each other,' the maid was inside our bedroom, turning down our bedsheets for us. She did not know we were on the balcony. We did not know she was in the room. Maybe you can guess the rest. She locked the sliding glass door." It is signed, "Two lovers, romantic sky, and lots of privacy. Embarrassed from California." Bob: So you have no idea how they ever got back in, huh? Dennis: Your mind is only left to wonder – how did they get back in, there on the fourth floor of the hotel? Bob: Well, that is a part of what we hope will be a romantic evening for couples at the FamilyLife Marriage Conference, but we hope that's not the end of romantic evenings for couples. Dennis: Well, we really talk about FamilyLife Marriage Conference, taking Saturday and making it an adventure. That's not the kind of adventure we're talking about. We are talking about adding romance to your relationship, and I think at our conferences across the United States, that's what a lot of couples really seen infused back into their marriage relationship through all the teachings of scripture that build intimacy in their marriage relationship, they better understand how to relate to each other as husband and wife, and what I wanted to do, Bob, was I wanted to take the next few days, prior to Valentine's Day, and I wanted us to talk about the all-important subject of romance. Bob: Now, you call it an all-important subject. You kind of get the feel that romance is something that's a part of the courtship process. After marriage, romance just doesn't seem like it has the same, you know – Dennis: – sizzle. Bob: Yeah, yeah. Dennis: Yeah, that's right. Well, let me just read something from Song of Solomon, okay? Song of Solomon, chapter 1, verse 2 – "May he kiss me with the kisses of his mouth, for your love is better than wine; your oils have a pleasing fragrance; your name is like purified oil; therefore, the maidens love you. Draw me after you." Now, here's the Shulamite woman who is attracted to Solomon. She is wanting her husband as the bride, and, you know, it's interesting that our God devoted an entire book of the 66 books that are in the inspired Word of God to this subject of romantic love, and one of the reasons why I wanted to talk about this is I think Christians are afraid of the subject, Bob. I think we're afraid to address this whole area of romantic love in marriage even though our God thought it all up in the first place. Bob: Some people have suggested that Song of Solomon is a parable showing us God's love for ...
