Friday, July 19, 2013

A Different Kind of Fairytale

Okay you guys. This is the first blog post I ever wrote from February of 2012. I'm not sure why I never posted it but I'm doing it now. Some cool things actually came from this post. It was the first one that I posted on the becoming blog as a new intern. And this passage was actually printed out on paper and given to single women at a wedding. I thought that was so cool. I guess you could say this is my own little throwback Thursday. Except it's Friday so it doesn't really work. Never mind.

P.S. In the picture below is me and my sister! I'm on the left and she's on the right. Aren't we just adorable?
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So, here we are. Living in a world full of all kinds of stories and fairytales. There's a hero, a damsel in distress, and a dragon to slay. There's the guy in the hall that helps a girl with her books, and there's the classic with Cinderella and the prince desperately searching for her.

With all these beautiful love stories being crammed into our hearts, we're left asking: Where's mine?

If you're anything like me, sometimes you find it hard to believe that you can even have a love story. In books and movies, it's too good to be true, and in real life, parents are divorcing left and right. It's easier to read the novels or watch the movies because it's better than reality.

I think this is our first mistake: filling our hearts with stories that make us feel like we're missing something. I know exactly what it feels like to long for that 'significant other' -trust me- but there is something that I've realized over the past couple months and it has completely changed my perspective.

Before I start telling you about love and that it is possible, let me go on and tell you that there's this guy up in heaven who loves us to death. Literally. We all know this; we hear it all the time. But there's a big difference between knowing that God loves us and believing it. Now, I can't make you understand, but God can, and I think once we can actually believe it, our hunger for an earthly love won't be so bright. Still there, but not controlling.

Love is not a gooey feeling that you get inside. It's not floating butterflies in your tummy.


Love is an action.

When you're married (and I say this, not from experience, but from what I've heard and seen in today's culture), you're not always going to want to feel "loving" you will get in arguments and have disagreements, but to love someone is doing the right thing for them, even when you don't feel like it.

Love is kind of like faith. You can have works without faith, but not faith without works. Just like you can have an action without love, but not love without action, because if you sincerely love someone, you're going to do things for them.

And if you sincerely believe in God's vast love for insignificant, little you, then by golly, you're going to want to do everything you can for him. Not to pay him back; no, we can't do that. But because you love him, and you understand the elementary idea that he simply loves you.

Now, looking back at our little desire for a 'spousal equivalent'. Can I just say that we need to stop 'looking for love'? It doesn't sound right to me. Stop flirting and getting all up in his grill (he probably gets super annoyed).

Remember those stories and fairytales I was talking about earlier? Yeah, well, there's a funny equivalence that comes along with those, because with all the stories came a man taking action. It's the men doing the stressful work that us ladies have been trying to manage. We want to be chased, and guys want to pursue, it's like a quest for them or something.

SO LET HIM!

You may be wondering: Why the heck would I want to take relationship advice from Bailey, who hasn't even seen a handhold since a seventh grade crush? Well, that's true, BUT... I think I've got the right idea.

Stop trying to find something that you already have with God, and when the time's right, He'll send you a knight in shining armor to come sweep you off your feet, and you'll see just how real a fairytale can be.

Besides, prince charming's so over rated. I'm going to have a knight. And what do knights do?

They fight for their King.
 
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"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." 1 Corinthians 13:4-7