There aren’t any songs about staying in love. Falling in love gets all the melodies and attention. Those first moments when everything is fresh, new, and simple are what inspire poetry, love songs, and movie scripts. Falling in love finds us with stars in our eyes, carefully chosen outfits, and fresh manicures. Staying in love has to deal with the reality of dirty socks, sick kids, overdue bills, and empty cereal boxes. It is better pictured with a little less style and a lot more substance. Falling in love is easy. Anybody can trip and tumble into a song, a date, or a romantic moment. It takes something deeper to get up and daily make the choice to walk together – no matter what the day holds.
Staying in love means staying when escape sounds so much better. It means cleaning up messes you didn’t make, forgiving what hurts, listening with grace, praying through the pain, wrestling with worries, and seeing when all you want to do is close your eyes. This determination to stay in love goes beyond marriages. Its resolve flows into the core of what it means to be friends, parents, siblings, children, and neighbors. To stay in love is to stay. To plant our hearts in the relationships that define us, digging down deep to create roots that will nourish us, anchor us, and connect us for the long run.
We learn how to stay in love with our spouses, friends, and families by living in the stay-in-love reality of the cross. God’s love sees us through the tough times. He stays, even when I am less than beautiful, less than gracious, less than holy, and less than who He wants me to be. Every day, He holds out His hand and makes the stay-in-love choice to walk with me through the ugly and the lovely.
My Jesus Resolution today is to stay in love. Margaret Bonanno said, “It is only possible to live happily ever after on a daily basis.” I love that thought. If I want to live happily ever after, I have to decide how to do that today. The best way to stay in love is to fix myself firmly in the love of Christ. His love empowers me to stay in love in all my other relationships.
Casandra Martin 
I love this…true love is always a decision more than a feeling. Thanks you for your dedication to serving our Lord. Missed you at conference and praying all is well.