Newlywed Love (#1)

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.”

But 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.

We 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.

I 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.

No 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.