If it is raining, go run across a field together, and let the mud get all over your legs. Take your shoes off. Jump in a puddle together. Use lots of hearts over text; be cheesy and unashamed, you’ve waited for this. Say you love them once it’s right, and then say it again—“I love you”—every morning and every night. Do not steal their hat or sweatshirt unless you have consent. Fix tea for each other. Pick wildflowers for each other, and make each other crowns out of daisies and reeds. Discover new things for each other. When they leave for a while, write them one note to read for every day you are apart, and call them every night if you can. Get deeply invested in each others’ worlds, and each person’s particular history. Write each other love poems, love songs and love letters. Paint pictures of each other. Braid her hair. Go stargazing in the winter; hold hands to keep warm. Look into each others’ eyes for as long as you can handle. Pray together often, read the Bible together often, and attend church together. Be careful with each others’ hearts and bodies; be oh so gentle. Hang out with their siblings. Make her laugh so she snorts. Help him feel like he is safe enough to talk about emotions. Wonder. Get goofy photos together and save the bad ones too. Talk about ethics and politics and convictions and enjoy the meeting of minds. Find a good view, and sit and gaze together. Value each others’ goals even if they’re different from what you expected. Dangle your toes in the water at the edge of a dock, and hold each other close. Create a playlist with both of your favorite songs. Delight in each others’ happiness. Be amazed at how blissful love can be; treasure that feeling. Seek to bring out Christ in the other person. Prioritize the relationship over being right, and if you ever yell at each other, (I hope you do not), apologize immediately. Encourage each other in front of your friends. Stand against the fears of the future together. Be there for them when they suffer little griefs, because the big griefs will come too. Buy each other gifts. Bake cookies in the kitchen and sing silly songs while you stir. Drink cocoa. Pretend to be penguins. Call each other beloved, and it will help you treat each other right. Assume each others’ maturity but also invest in each others’ growth.
Make it about marriage, and if you both decide marriage is the right thing for you, get her a ring and ask her the question in a beautiful place that means a lot to both of you.
Then never let each other go.