Category Archives: God’s plans for us

Newlywed Love (#2)

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December 2, 1969

Oak St. BeachNate’s and my honeymoon was short but very sweet. We packed lots into our 4 days at The Drake and made good use of a Super 8 movie camera Mary and Bervin had given us as a wedding gift.

We walked along the frozen beaches of Lake Michigan just outside the hotel doors, and I took footage of Nate, then he took footage of me – a bit boring for others to watch some day, but ever-meaningful to us. Of course in 1969 we didn’t get to see what we’d recorded until a couple of weeks later after the 50 feet of film had been developed at a camera store.

 

Wedding gift mugOne day into our honeymoon, we presented each other with our wedding gifts. Because of Nate’s passion for history (his college major), I bought an antique I knew he’d appreciate: a pewter mug made in 1820 that had been used by several members of a British royal family. His gift for me was a string of beautiful pearls. “After all,” he said, “Margaret means ‘pearl.’ ”

 

Lots of giftsAlthough I’d bought only the one gift for Nate, he had many gifts for me, which he distributed through- out the 4 days. The first was a jar of clear, pink bath beads, along with an invitation to share a bath in the big, deep Drake tub. Toward the end of our honey- moon I wrote in my journal, “I’ve never been so clean in my life!”

As we spent time learning to be physically together, both of us discovered a sweet surprise, one more of God’s special blessings. When we were being intimate, we experienced a closeness of hearts and emotions we hadn’t expected, feelings we hadn’t known while dating, despite lots of kissing and hugging.

This was something on a higher level, precious beyond measure. And afterwards, with our arms still around each other, we agreed that the whispered words spoken in those moments were new, relationship-nourishing moments.

Prone

The brevity of our honeymoon made us appreciate each hour, but reading daily newspapers reminded us of the chaotic world going on apart from our blissful life at The Drake. The Vietnam War was escalating, and after reading an article about rapidly increasing ground troops there, Nate sadly mentioned he knew several friends who would have to go now.

As we counted blessings on the last night of our honeymoon, snow began swirling outside the window, and we knew “regular” life was just around the corner – 1st grade teaching for me and law classes for Nate. So we went out shopping one last time to buy gifts for Mary, Bervin, Mom, Dad, and Aunt Agnes. Stopping for snacks on the way back to the hotel, we laughed to see that even our Coke straws were helping us celebrate to the very end.

Honeymoon straw

“The Lord said, ‘My presence will go with you.’ ” (Exodus 33:14)

Newlywed Love (#1)

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Nate and Meg are back on this blog (by popular demand), but if you’ve had enough of them, you know where the delete button is.

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December 1, 1969

As Nate and I embarked on our brief 4-day honeymoon, we were reminded again that God keeps his promises. “The Lord is trustworthy in all he promises and faithful in all he does.” (Psalm 145:136)

In his Word he had told us to wait for sex until we were married, implying that if we did, he would bless us in special ways. We experienced that divine blessing again and again at The Drake Hotel, so much so that Nate would often say a prayer of gratitude both before and after we were intimate.

Scripture says, “Marriage is honorable by all and the bed undefiled.” (Hebrews 13:4 KJV) This means it’s no sin to have all the married sex you both want, and assures that as you take advantage of such freedom, God is nodding his approval.

A synonym for “undefiled” is “pure,” and our honeymoon was full of pure fun. Peter wrote about loving each other fervently with pure hearts, and purifying our souls by obeying God’s truth. (1 Peter 1:22 KJV) That’s exactly what we were doing.

I told Nate, “When God invented sex, he sure had a good idea there.”

BreakfastBut of course lovemaking wasn’t all we did on our honeymoon. The morning after our wedding we ordered brunch through room service, a lavish treat we justified for that special occasion. I ordered my favorite – lamb chops – eating them with my fingers. Nate got scrod, and everything was served on linen and silver. “Even a free newspaper!” he said.

 

Vespers serviceWe did some sightseeing, sat in the front row at the new Broadway show Hair (quite controversial!), ate at The Cape Cod Room and Don the Beachcombers, shopped, saw the comedy show at Second City, and participated in an evening vesper service at a nearby church. We also spent a bit of our wedding money. I shouldn’t say “we,” because most of it was spent on me.

Nate said, “I think we should buy you a new coat.” My “Jackie Kennedy” had seen better days, and it was time to retire it. Modeling coats for my admiring groom was a delight, and I relished his many compliments.

The new coatI told him the choice was his, and he picked a black coat with fake fur, leather trim, and silver buttons. I loved it, especially knowing that every time I put it on I would be reminded of our honeymoon – for years to come.

At the Marshall Fields glove counter, we were pondering which pair of black gloves to buy (me again) when the clerk said, “I’m gonna guess you two are newlyweds.”

“How can you tell?” Nate said.

“Your rings are still shiny… and also… all that giggling.” We loved our new label.

Do not disturbNo matter what we did, though, we never strayed far from The Drake. Nate would look at me or I’d look at him, and one of us would say, “Let’s go back and take a nap.” – an invitation to have some more “pure” fun.

“A man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife.” (Genesis 2:24)

Young Love (#142)

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A note to blog readers:

 

WheatonThis weekend I’ll be attending the 50th reunion of my Wheaton graduating class – 1967! I won’t be able to blog for a few days, but before I go, I want to bring this bride and groom to THE thrilling moment they’ve been anticipating for so many months – in room 334 at The Drake Hotel in Chicago….

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November 30, 1969… 2:00 AM

At long last Nate and I were on our honeymoon, and oh how we had looked forward to this day! Both of us were anticipating the fun of our first sex, but like the cherry on a sundae, we wanted to save the best for last.

PJsIn a silly little ceremony we pulled our night clothes out of our luggage and laid them on the bed, taking a picture. Nate’s PJs were still in their plastic package, and although my gauzy nightie was very pretty, I knew it was scratchy at the seams. We decided to ignore formality and go with comfort.

Nate had thought of everything and produced a bottle of wine, which had been chilling on ice. “I thought this might be a good idea,” he said. And of course it was. He got out of his jeans, and I put on my comfy old bathrobe.

 

ComfyThe Drake had given us two glasses to go with the wine, and as we sipped, we talked over the weekend, beginning with Thanksgiving dinner. Moving through each day, hour by hour, we laughed and compared our impressions. What stood out to each of us? What was funny? Surprising? How did we feel when we were being joined in marriage?

Relaxing there in the living room of our suite, I hung on Nate’s every word and couldn’t take my eyes off of him.

 

A ring...Suddenly he lifted his hand and said, “Hey, look-it! A wedding ring!” All I could do was dive in his direction and cover his face with kisses.

As the wine warmed us, our giggling increased, and anticipation started to build. We actually began talking about our first love-making experience and what the next moments would be like. We had read books and knew that the first time didn’t always turn out well. We shared our expectations of each other and ourselves, but agreed that with us, it was going to be nothing but pure pleasure.

Then, all of a sudden, it was as if we ran out of things to say… and we were there. Nate took my hand, and we moved into the bedroom. As we did, I remembered the night weeks ago at our apartment in Champaign when we’d gotten a bit too passionate and had had trouble stopping. “This time,” I said, “there’ll be no stopping us!”

And with that, we proceeded to lose our virginity – the gift we’d both worked so hard to save for each other on this very important day…

…pure pleasure indeed.

“Go ahead… Drink your wine with a happy heart, for God approves of this! Live happily with the woman you love.” (Ecclesiastes 9:7,9)