When Tom and I began The Romantic Vineyard nearly a decade ago (where has the time gone?), we chose the title because we had no better words to describe our passion–romance in marriage. This has been our calling in life for as long as I can remember. And we have done what we can with every opportunity that comes our way.

However, since Gary Thomas’ excellent book, Cherish, was published we now have a new word that more accurately describes our passion–cherish.

What exactly is cherish?

• It is discovering what it means to your spouse to be loved and valued.
• It is taking romance to a more personal and meaningful level.
• It is doing and saying things that mean something to your spouse, to make them feel cherished.

Cherish helps us make the most of the time we’ve been given together. It brings to the forefront that which is of most importance and allows the trivial to fade to the back.

Remember those standardized tests we had to take in school that had us compare and choose the right answer?

Cherish is to romance what conviction is to action.

We can be busy doing all kinds of things, but if we don’t have a conviction about it they are just items on our to-do list. Conviction takes our actions and gives them purpose and meaning. We realize that there is an important reason we are doing what we do and it matters.

In the same way we can busy taking care of our spouse and doing things that speak of our love for them, but if we don’t have the mindset to cherish them it can become a well-worn path. Cherish takes our love and gives it meaning and purpose for our spouse. It speaks their language.

A marriage that lacks cherish is a relationship missing out on the best part of being together. Cherish is the realization that your husband/wife is the only Adam/Eve for you. They are yours from the moment you said “I do” and will be until you take your last breath. It is a privilege we shouldn’t take lightly.

In what ways do you want to be cherished by your spouse?

In what ways do they want to be cherished by you?

If you don’t know, we encourage you to spend some time talking about it and read Gary’s book together. It may help you both discover a dimension in your marriage you didn’t realize was missing. Which brings us to our first giveaway in awhile…

Cherish Your Spouse Giveaway:

We want to give away a Cherish Your Spouse package that includes a copy of Gary Thomas’ book, Cherish, and a copy of our book, Cherishing Us – 365 Healthy Tips from The Romantic Vineyard.

How to enter:

1. Comment what being cherished by your spouse would look like to you. (One entry)

2. Ask your spouse what being cherished by you would look like and share their answer with your comment. (One entry)

3. Share this post on FB, Twitter or Instagram (One entry) Type “shared” on your comment to let us know.

That’s it! We will select the winner from a random drawing after all entries are received.