How to Handle the Honeymoon Period

When was the last time you went through a honeymoon period? When the emotions are flowing, it can be hard to see clearly. We don’t want to see life from a hyperrealistic lens—we know our God does immeasurably more than we could ever imagine. And honeymoon periods feel good… can’t we just enjoy them? This episode covers pros and cons of the honeymoon period, how I handled/am handling my current honeymoon period, prayer prompts to help us see and hear clearly amidst these periods, and advice for shaking off traps that aim to keep us afraid to pursue where God is leading us. Honeymoon periods may end, but that’s not a bad thing! There is endless adventure, new chapters being written, in this life adventure with the Lord.

Listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.

Or read the transcript ♡

Ah the honeymoon period. Whether it’s related to a romantic relationship, friendship, job, exercise routine—perhaps many of us have experienced those periods of elation. Where you can’t stop talking about how much you love that person or thing. Or thinking about it. Or soaking in the feelings of being so blessed that God has allowed this person or thing to come into your life.

Honeymoon feelings always fade though.

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary describes the honeymoon period as: a period of unusual harmony especially following the establishment of a new relationship.

The freedictionary.com by Farlex describes it as: The short amount of time at the beginning of a new relationship, activity, or pursuit when everything goes well and seems to be free of problems.

Logically, by this stage in our lives, we’ve probably been through many honeymoon periods. And I think we should enjoy them—to a degree! I don’t think God wants us to go through life always assessing with a realistic lens of what could go wrong or when things might end or change. When we look at our favourite bible figures, it’s clear God writes stories and situations unlike anyone else. But, having just gone through a honeymoon period, my first in a very long time, there are some things I’d like to do differently the next time one pops up.

So what did I fall in love with?

Love might sound dramatic but I love passionately. I truly want to love God with ALL my heart, mind, and soul. You too, right? Loving God with reckless abandon is THE goal as there is no safer, greater, more wonderful place to be. So while I don’t love other things to quite the same extent, maybe it’s my personality, but I like to go all in.

And I fell in love… with my program. With this Master of Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology. With all I was learning—and how it felt SO right for this stage of my life. With how the program was structured—allowing me to heal from burnout while building for my future. With the people—and how different and yet complementary we seemed. With the classes—and how much the professors prepared for classes and wanted to support our development and ventures. With the structure—how it was helping me think through the tough questions in as effective a manner as possible. How I’d even found 5 God-loving classmates!

Month one of the program was like floating on cloud 9.

And now that I’m in month 2…

There is an element of us all being on our best behavior during the honeymoon period isn’t there? It’s not that I think that these things that I love about this season and this program have changed a lot. But there is an element of humanness in everything. The classes are great but it is busy—the only way I’ll truly heal from burnout and do this program well is if I rely on God. As I mentioned last episode, things got so busy in month 1 and I had less free time with the Lord, and it showed in how I handled things! I am passionate and when I’m not drawing from God’s well most of all—danger. My classmates are awesome but I think many are also dealing with the same cycle I am—wanting to make the most of this program, dealing with other responsibilities and challenges, feeling weary from all the month 1 work and socializing. The classes are still awesome but if some pieces of advice don’t align with how we might want to do things as God’s children—I need to wrestle with that, pray, and find out what approach I’ll take instead.

So while I still want to fall passionately in love with the opportunities God presents (and hopefully my future husband too), next time I want to structure in more time with God. Extra time with God. Morning quiet time isn’t enough. It’s essential I think to start our day with God, rooted in his truth. But we can do the rest of the day with him too! Let’s remember that we can pray short prayers before class or meetings. We can pray during conversations with friends or in meetings. We can ask for wisdom and discernment as we navigate new seasons. When we have new opportunities, let’s see them as new adventures that we literally get a chance to do with our God.

Shall we take a bit of time today and pray? If you like this podcast, I’d guess you’re a passionate, big-hearted dreamer. You want all God has for you. You want to be used by God for his glory. You believe that the closer you are to God, the better your life will be—for there is nothing like being right with God and you’re willing to obey his rules to enjoy him to the fullest. But that you also need help! You need guidance on how to do the day to day. And also to dream bigger. More strategically. More specifically. And on how to not fall into traps of self-doubt and comparison. How to shake it off when someone intentionally or unintentionally criticizes your God-given design. Wants you to change to fit their understanding of the world.

May we keep this ‘You Are You’ principle close to our heart. Friend, it is SO TRUE that God made you the way you are for his purposes. Every skill, every mistake can be used for his glory when we submit it to him. We are not alone. God wants us with him and in community. Sometimes it can feel hard to share what we’re going through with our in-person friends—if that’s the case, why not ask God for opportunities to share anonymously or online. That’s how I started. And if you’re comfortable sharing with your community, why not ask God for new areas to serve. We will grow as we do—God wants us to shine our light, his light. He wants to use us where we are—if we wait until we feel perfect, we’ll miss so many opportunities!

One thing that I’ve felt God nudging my heart about is ambition. Sometimes it feels, at least to me, like selfishness or greed. If God wants me to have opportunities, he’ll bring them. I don’t want to spend too much time praying over claiming territory for the Lord. I just want to do things and then trust God will do with it what he will. But, maybe especially because of this program, I’m remembering that—for all of us intuitive, Spirit-led, we ‘just know’ to do it now kind of people—God gave us brains too. Do you ever need this reminder sometimes? I do. We can work for the Lord and take steps, make plans while keeping that soft heart to let him redirect whenever he wants to and always, always keeping our ear open to him.

Proverbs 16:9 says: We can make our plans, but the LORD determines our steps.

Lord, we are in October. So many things have happened in 2022. But the year is not over yet! Help us to be bold, empowered by the Holy Spirit. To seek you and dream with you! To rely on your wisdom and make plans. To believe with all our heart that you will determine our steps. To know that we can run to you like children and confess when we’ve gotten ahead of ourselves and made mistakes, had outbursts, spoken a careless word.

Lord, we know there is so much ahead. We know you are doing great things. You are looking for children willing to serve. We want to be part of what you’re doing, God! Help us to work for you. To develop our skills and work hard and steward well what you’ve entrusted to us so we can be used for more.

Help us to guard against any lies that wanting to serve you well is selfish. Let us not fall for any traps that want to keep us where we are, distracted by our sins and limitations. May we see ourselves as you see us. May we understand your character more and more. Help us to fall more in love with you God, every day. There is so much to love and help us to constantly see that as much as we love you, there is truly so much more to know and love.

Thank you for being our safe place—our everything.

We love you.

In Jesus’s name, I pray. Amen.