Keep your marriage vows alive and keep your relationship fresh by finding ways to renew your commitment to each other every day.

By Rev. Laurie Sue Brockway

I tied the knot, for the second time around, at 48. I can still remember the bridal glow I had before, and for months following, our wedding. I was so excited about love!

I am still excited about love, but the bridal hormones eventually blended into adjusting to married life and real life with my new husband. Even though he had been my longtime boyfriend, marriage does change things. I realized we needed a strategy for calling forth those happy feelings again.

There are those moments in every relationship when two people are so far removed from their wedding day that they kind of forget what brought them together in the first place. Whether you are an old pro at married life – or just got hitched again for the second time around -- over time, your marriage needs a tune up here and there (I don’t have to tell you that!).

It is a good idea to check in every once and a while and make sure you are both still aligned with your wedding vows. In addition, your vows themselves may need some enhancement. As time goes on, you will both change and grow and your married life will evolve.

Your marriage will hopefully be a long and fruitful journey. To keep it fresh and keep it vibrant, look for ways to continually renew your commitment and to acknowledge the sacred promises you made.

1. Sweetly Keeping Your Promises Alive. We are all pretty high on love and life after the wedding – that’s why they call it the honeymoon period! Anniversaries can also stimulate a lot of those love hormones – even if you don’t think you have any hormones left! They are a good time to reignite the kind of love. Remembering the promises made at the altar can help you both maintain the happy feelings of your very special day. I learned this from one of my deans in seminary school, Rev. Diane Berke, who married for the second time and repeated her wedding vows with her new husband on her honeymoon. They enjoyed it so much they kept going for two years! Why not try it for two weeks or a month. Find your wedding vows or write new ones. Starting on your anniversary or some special occasion, each night before you go to bed, take some time to look deeply into each others eyes and repeat them to one another.

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