Practicing What You Preach

Reported the Chicago Sun-Times on November 2:

So what is it like to kiss a girl for the first time ever, after she has become your wife?

"It was surreal," said Claudaniel "CD" Fabien... after his marriage to Melody LaLuz Fabien on Saturday....

Claudaniel, 30, and Melody, 28, had pledged to be abstinent before marriage -- but went a little further by agreeing not to kiss each other on the lips before their union was official.

Why so strict? They didn't even want to get close to temptation, instead waiting until the minister said the magic words: "NOW, you may kiss the bride."...

Both Claudaniel and Melody Fabien are abstinence educators - Claudaniel for the nonprofit Confederation of Spanish American Families. Melody is director of the "What's Good" program for the LYDIA Home Association, a Christian service agency. Both teach abstinence programs within the Chicago Public Schools.

Melody and CD met on their way to a mission trip in Uganda in 2006. Prospects for romance weren't good - Melody had taken a seven-year vow not to date until June 2007, and the two lived in different cities - Melody in Chicago and CD in Tucson.

After the trip, they talked on the phone, visited, and became friends, with CD promising to respect Melody's vow. In November 2007, CD got a job in Chicago, and the two began dating. CD proposed last July, writing "WYMM" in sand on a Miami beach.

Another LYDIA educator, Vasti Cruz, said the group isn't telling young people never to have sex -- but just to wait and focus on their goals.

"A lot of people, at 20, are starting . . . life with regrets," said Cruz. Abstinence "keeps you focused on your future," said Cruz, who is 71 days away from her own wedding.

The crowd at Maranatha World Revival Ministries on the Northwest Side whooped and hollered when the couple had their first kiss - actually, their first few kisses - with Melody coming back for one more peck like a kid sneaking frosting from a cake.

Afterward, she described the kiss as "magical."

"It feels like such a gift," said Melody. "When you value a kiss, it becomes something of worth."

The couple will leave for a honeymoon in the Bahamas today, but planned to stay in Chicago on Saturday night.

"We got business to take care of tonight," her husband said, doing a little dance in his white suit while his new bride giggled.

(HT: Jill Stanek)