Hey readers, remember a few weeks ago I wrote about my husband’s new truck? Well, you know the free trial of Sirius XM Radio you get with a new vehicle these days… taking advantage of it, we’ve been listening to The 70s on 7 channel and this song from my younger days popped up. I guess I never paid much attention to the words when it was new, so this time I listened to hear what Rupert actually said; not just the chorus. Look for the wisdom revealed!

Escape (The Piña Colada Song)

Rupert Holmes

I was tired of my lady
We’d been together too long
Like a worn out recording
Of a favorite song

So while she lay there sleepin’
I read the paper in bed
And in the personal columns
There was this letter I read

If you like piña coladas
And gettin’ caught in the rain
If you’re not into yoga
If you have half a brain
If you like makin’ love at midnight
In the dunes on the cape
Then I’m the love that you’ve looked for
Write to me and escape

I didn’t think about my lady
I know that sounds kinda mean
But me and my old lady
Had fallen into the same old dull routine

So I wrote to the paper
Took out a personal ad
And though I’m nobody’s poet
I thought it wasn’t half bad

Yes, I like piña coladas
And gettin’ caught in the rain
I’m not much into health food
I am into champagne
I’ve got to meet you by tomorrow noon
And cut through all this red tape
At a bar called O’Malley’s
Where we’ll plan our escape

So I waited with high hopes
And she walked in the place
I knew her smile in an instant
I knew the curve of her face

It was my own lovely lady
And she said, “Oh, it’s you”
Then we laughed for a moment
And I said, “I never knew”

“That you like piña coladas
And gettin’ caught in the rain
And the feel of the ocean
And the taste of champagne
If you like making love at midnight
In the dunes on the cape
You’re the lady I’ve looked for
Come with me and escape”… … …

Songwriters: Rupert Holmes For non-commercial use only. Data from: Musixmatch

I share this song with you because it coordinates with a book I read recently. More Than This, Stuck In A Rut by Marion Ueckermann, is part of Love’s Treasure, A Christian Romance Collection. It’s also Book 1 of Marion’s A Rustic Falls Romance series set in the Drakensberg Mountains of South Africa. The couple at the center of this story are in their fifties; Pastors recently moved to small-town Rustic Falls from the big city where they were passing as ships in the night. Amid ministry that brought several churches into being, the last one a large church with many demands, the couple lost themselves serving everyone else’s needs. They have two grown daughters serving as missionaries and a son in Bible College. This small village church they are now pastoring has been running well without leadership for a year. What is this couple’s role in this new place? How will they find their way back to each other? Throw in a new Puli puppy, and life gets extra-exciting!

I’d like to touch on that puppy I’d never heard of…

As we go through our marriage, we can easily lose our connection amid the busyness of life. Demands of children, work and church activities, even if you are not in leadership, make it easy to miss connecting with each other as husband and wife. The Christian life is meant to be a sacrifice… right? Well, God never meant for us to break the sacred bond of marriage as the sacrifice, although many have lost their marriages and families in pursuit of ministry. What does Scripture say?

Proverbs 5:18 May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth.

Malachi 2:13  Another thing you do: You flood the Lord’s altar with tears. You weep and wail because he no longer looks with favor on your offerings or accepts them with pleasure from your hands.

¹⁴ You ask, “Why?” It is because the Lord is the witness between you and the wife of your youth. You have been unfaithful to her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant.

15 Has not the one God made you? You belong to him in body and spirit. And what does the one God seek? Godly offspring. So be on your guard, and do not be unfaithful to the wife of your youth.

I love Marion Ueckermann’s story. She handles this subject beautifully! I remember times my husband and I have gotten lost in busyness periodically through our forty years of marriage. As a young Believer, I heard the verses about rejoicing in the wife of your youth and desired to have a husband like that. Thanks be to God, my loving Father, that is just what I have now!

Marriage takes work and much prayer. What could you do right now, one small step for today, that would draw you closer to your spouse? Maybe just a listening ear, an unexpected compliment, or making time to ride with them to the store. Is child raising the rub? Barter with another family for time without the children… and have a date. Think about what brought you together in the first place, and as the Bible says in Revelation 2:4, repent and do the first things.

Lord, I pray against the spirit of divorce that is raging through our households. I ask for grace to use our sanctified imagination to discover ways to love, honor, cherish and appreciate the partner You have given. Fill our mouths with laughter and give us Heaven’s perspective on all our relationships. In Jesus’ precious name, Amen.

Shalom my dear readers! Until we meet again, be blessed and be a blessing!