Real Love
I am a hopeless romantic. I grew up drinking that Disney Kool-Aid. I was flying on magic carpets with Jasmine, wanting to walk on land with Ariel, discovering the beauty in the beast with Belle and dancing in balls with Cinderella. My mind played like an iconic Disney movie and in my head and I awaited my prince charming to come valiantly riding on a chariot. I mean, can you blame me? I actually grew up off of a street named Princess Lane. My fairy tale bubble was burst soon after my 18th birthday. I experienced some trauma and suddenly my life’s theme music went from the sound of music to slow songs by Sade. Why didn’t anyone tell me that the world was like this… This was a cold, cruel and careless world. There was a dark cloud over my head and the forecast called for a downpour as far as my eyes could see. This is typically when the prince steps in and saves the day. Well buckle up because this story has some plot twist.
To his credit my husband pursued my heart with grace. I was in such a difficult place romance was the furthest thing on my radar. I put my energy toward my own healing and restoration. I started to see the sun beyond the clouds in my life. As my focus became more clear I saw not a young guy throwing game but a faithful friend that supported me on my journey to healing. A friend that loved me while I was in pieces but supported me in my pursuit of peace. He encouraged me to live out the fullness of my potential. I opened my heart eventually and said yes to the love that he was extending to me. We embarked on a journey that led us through every climate and a host of varying terrain. Maybe my previous hopes of prince charming were more fact then fable.
Love from this vantage point, this place in life is not about a fairy tale. It is about the real world. Having someone to hold you in shelter during life’s inevitable storms. Locking arms and navigating the roughest of life’s journey terrain. Sometimes you may feel like you are flying high on a magic carpet, navigating new worlds full of wonder but other times you may feel like the pinky to his Brain and you are taking over the world. The fantasy is less like a love void of brokenness but a love that shines through the cracks of the inevitable broken places. To see someone, truly see them and choose to love them, all of them and to call them to be all they were designed to be is a treasure and a gift. It is love.
I can only help but see parallels with my faith. I have been blown away from the times God did not rescue me. At some point I stopped looking for the rescue and simply abiding in the love. The one who does not always save me from the storm but shelters me in the midst of stormy weather. The one who sees and knows me, all of me. The me that is rejected by others is covered by him. He knows all of me and loves all of me but does not leave me just as me. He calls me to growth and to partake in work bigger and further reaching than myself. This is no fairy tale. This is a reality. A love tale. This is love.
