My wife and I had been married for ten years and had just been through our most challenging year together.  We were in the process of restoring our relationship and spending a lot of time talking and sharing our feelings with each other.  I learned that although my acts of service were kind and dutiful throughout our marriage, I had fallen short in showing my love to my bride through romance and unexpected surprises. 

God had also blessed us with two beautiful children but the routine of raising kids and the duties of everyday life had also taken some of the passion and connectedness from our marriage.  Valentine's Day was approaching which was also a symbolic day for us because I had surprised her by proposing on that day eleven years ago.  This was an opportunity for me to pull out all of the stops and surprise my Beloved with her "New and Improved" husband.  And the message I wanted to send was that I loved her for who she was and expected nothing in return.  This would be a difficult surprise to pull off because of my wife's sixth sense when the scent of something "different" is in the air.

I arranged for child care through some young lady's at church for that evening and made sure my wife was out with a friend later in the afternoon so I could prepare our bedroom.  It's funny how the joy and excitement builds as I shared my plans with others who would play a part in ensuring the surprise.  I laid a trail of rose petals from the front door of our house up to the bedroom and to the master bath.  The scene was set at the bath with strewn rose petals, chocolate covered strawberries, arranged candles, a dozen roses, and a Victoria's Secret bag altered to read "Victoria's Other Secret".  I filled this decorated bag with Godiva and Belgium chocolates as well as a very personal card.  I poured a fragrant bubble bath and had a bottle of champagne with two glasses in an ice bucket at the ready.  I arranged a chair next to the bath and had the Jane Austen novel she was reading at the ready so I could read to her out loud.

When my Beloved arrived, I asked her to follow the rose petals upstairs and invited her to enjoy her very special place.  She enjoyed the bubble bath with all of the amenities and I read Jane Austen to her.  There were no "strings" attached.  It was a very special time for both of us.  Needless to say, it was a time together that has set the momentum for what has now been the best year of our marriage since our first year together.  God has blessed us and my Bride is now pregnant with our third child.

Editor's note: The one thing that struck me as being really romantic in this story is reading her book to her while she soaked in the tub. While all the extra stuff was very nice, you don't always have to go to that much effort. In fact, if you do, it will probably be another 10 years before it happens again. Nothing against the "grand" gestures, but lots of smaller bits of romance is what makes the marriage most exciting.