Thursday, July 19, 2012

The Awkward Middle Part...


Every little girl wants this. They grow up thinking that one day they'll be introduced to a handsome prince that loves them and reminds them of the way Daddy loves Mommy....then they grow up and pretend to be independent but deep inside is still that little girl that yearns to be swept off her feet by her Prince Charming no matter how hard she fights against him. People want a happy ever after, and they want the road there to be nothing but smiles, butterflies and smooth sailing. 


But people forget about the awkward part in the middle. And what does that mean? 


It means that in order to get from "Once upon a time...." to, "...and they lived happily ever after" you have to get through the part where Cinderella runs away and Prince Charming thinks he's lost her for good. 


Allow me to demonstrate. 


It takes Harry Potter seven INSANE books to achieve his happy ending and end married with a family.


Sleeping Beauty ends up with her prince, but first she sleeps for the equivalent of her lifetime. 


In order for the Little Mermaid to get her happy ending she loses her voice, her family, and almost watches the love of her life marry another woman. 


More biblically....


Jacob pursued Rachel, only to find out on his wedding night that his own father in law had slipped her older sister Leah into his bedchamber. "So Jacob served seven years for Rachel, but they seemed to him but a few days because of the love he had for her." - Genesis 29:20


Ruth finds Boaz ONLY after leaving her home, her family, and the grave of her dead husband, and traveling to a land where she's not even accepted all for the love of her mother in law.


And most importantly: The Gospel.


Through the Gospel we receive redemption in Christ; the opportunity to stand before the God of the Universe with a clean slate, because when He looks at us He sees not our sin but the blood of His beloved Son. But in order for Christ to achieve that, He had to endure excruciating pain, humiliation, and a criminal's death. He had to break the very BONDS of death, in order to ensure that we would be set free of them forever. 


So to sum up what I'm saying...not even in our fairy tales & stories, are love & relationships completely smooth sailing. It's hard and sometimes it looks like the entire world is ending! But I guess my encouragement is, if it still looks like that, then it's not the end. And if it's not the end, then God's not done with us yet. And our plans for our lives pale in comparison next to His. 


It's kind of like choosing a day at the playground when you could have spent the day at DisneyWorld. It just doesn't compare :) 

2 comments:

  1. I love your blogs, Bethany! your're such a great thinker. I was just studying about 1 Cor 13 Love and how all the gifts will cease, but love endures forever in heaven. Just like the gifts, marriage will cease but there is perfect love. Yet marriage is such a great picture of of the gospel.

    So, being on the "married" side, I think everyone has access to that devotion and union, in Christ. No one is short changed, in fact, Paul says we're divided if we're married. Yet, marriage helps me to understand that, if that is confusing??

    When I met Chris I knew he was the right one. it was funny b/c I wasn't "in love" like fairy tale romance but I knew he would be like Christ to me and I was definitely attracted. But we have a great marriage, to God be the glory. It would be a mess if Christ wasn't in it. That's for sure. (I come from a long line of divorced folks.)

    So, even if it takes a while, 7 years, there is no time wasted. Maturity helps a marriage to be what it should be anyways. So, your marriage to Christ is preparation for a great marriage whenever that happens.

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  2. Thank you so much Mrs. Bayack! Both for the compliment, and for the encouragement :)

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