Growing Together Through Every Season
Last weekend, while sitting at our nephew’s wedding, in the midst of all the sappy greeting card messages and flowery toasts about the beauty and perfection of new love, I found myself reflecting on the way love looks over time. At the beginning, everything feels fresh—sparkling with excitement and newness. But as the years go by, love changes shape. It’s less about butterflies and more about roots, less about gazing endlessly at each other and more about creating a shared path forward.
I’ve always loved the quote from Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, the author of The Little Prince:
“Love does not consist of gazing at each other, but in looking outward together in the same direction.”
That feels especially true in this season of my life.
For me and my husband, Mike, love doesn’t look like candlelit dinners every night (though we’ll take those when we can get them!). It looks like nightly talks on the porch, after the kids go to bed, sharing our daily successes and challenges, checking in on steps we’re taking toward our vision for the future, making plans, and setting goals we can work toward together. It looks like daily habits—protecting time for connection, taking walks, cooking meals side by side—that build trust and joy one small step at a time.
Because the truth is: love evolves. What worked for us in our twenties looks different now in our forties. The dreams we had as newlyweds aren’t the exact same dreams we’re building today. Each season brings its own challenges and possibilities—and the way we show up for each other needs to shift along with it.
That’s what keeps relationships fresh, yet grounded:
The spark of trying new things together.
The steadiness of rituals and habits that hold us steady.
The vision of looking outward, side by side, into the future we want to create.
Love isn’t just one grand gesture or a single big decision. It’s a series of small, intentional steps—taken together—that evolve as life unfolds.
So let me leave you with a question:
What’s one small step you and your partner (or someone close to you) could take this season to grow together?
