We have a renter on our third floor who drives a truck.  Today I noticed his bumper sticker for the first time. 

"DRIVE IT LIKE YOU BUILT IT"

I asked him what it meant. 

"There are people who say to drive it like you stole it, meaning you push it recklessly, not caring since it's just a joy ride. But my dad gave me this sticker, and I want to handle this truck like I will have it for forty years, as if I built it with my own hands. Like I care about it."

Having just hung up the keys to my own van after a few errands, I thought about how little I had thought about the car for the last half hour. While I don't even change my own oil, I could treat the vehicle with respect. And gratitude.

Last night was the final meeting of our summer marriage group. Each couple wrote their hopes for the next month, the next six months, the next year, and the next ten years. Some of the items on my list are easy, like holding hands more. Others are more complicated, like a week long trip. Others we have articulated before, and failed to follow through on, such as recording more music.

One couple wrote about starting a family, and another their plans for retirement. One expressed a desire to bring prayer back into their relationship.  

After eight Thursday evenings we are each building our couplehood with our own hands. And it will get us places we could not find on a joyride.