Fairytale?

Think of the classic fairy tales you know, most of them include a princess, right? they're usually stuck in some type of awful situation... a tower, an eternal sleep, a slaveish existence, a poverty stricken family, or just a bad situation that's unliked... Now you can't forget, there's got to be a prince, what would we be without him?... a mess, that's what. The guy who is in few exceptions all but perfect, who always rescues the damsel from her situation, takes her to a palace, kingdom, or castle, marries her and they live happily ever after... right?  now let's see, what else is usually in the story?... ah yes, the "bad guy"... a witch, or wicked step mother, or a sorcerer, or something of the like... I'm not even going to talk about all of the moral crisises or messed up examples put forth in those stories, not in this blog... not really. I had those stories on my shelf as a little girl... leading me to have all of these expectations in guys, and dreams about my own fairytale... which to an extent is ok... but not to the extreme they're pushing for. And i know guys, and men who want to be the perfect prince charming for someone, but the princess doesn't want them, or they don't measure up to a damsels unfair expectations, or there's no princess at all. I do know people who claim to have a fairytale going on... but is that real?... no. Sorry to be a killjoy, but love isn't all roses, kisses, sex, and joyfulness... not by a long shot. Love isn't always a bubbly feeling either... ask any honest married person, and they'll tell you that it's a choice. A straight up choice that they have to choose to love their husband/wife every single day, it would have ended long ago if they went strictly on feelings. I'm not saying that marriage is bad either... I'm a BIG fan of it actually, but it is hard. I don't claim to be married or even close to it. but i've seen my fair share of messed up relationships in the people i'm close to. I do believe that people can find "the right person" get married and have a good/great marriage, but it still takes a whole lot of work, and there's a whole lot of "not so happily ever after" things involved. Will i find a "prince charming"?... i don't know, i sure hope so, but i know for a fact he's not going to walk up kiss me, knock me head over heals for him, and be perfect. nopers. I know too that there's always the possibility that i might never find him, mine might not exist. I would really be annoyed (to say the least)  if that ends up being the case, but i have to at least consider it. i would say that with so many false images planted in our minds for most of our lives, there's alot of what makes divorce so common, and relationships often so petty. The only good example to strive after is this:

As a young man marries a young woman, so will your Builder marry you; as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you.  - Isaiah 62:5

He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes, who were too strong for me.               - Psalm 18:17

 “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son                   - Matthew 22:2

‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”  - Revelation 21:4

...into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. - Matthew 25:41b

Got it??? We're in a world of pain and despair (tower, dungeon, slavery). We're offered redemption from all of our troubles (even though we still have to face some of them for a while). If we accept it, we get to be the "bride" of christ, Go to a perfect kingdom prepared for us, and live happily ever after... oh and Satan burns in hell... if that's not a perfect fairytale i don't know what is. That ^ (Jesus) Is the perfect example for marriage. The bible even says:

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her              - Ephesians 5:25

So guess what?  i'll get a "fairy tale" even if i don't get a "prince charming" on earth... that's something to look forward to!

All Together

Do you know anyone who seems to have it all together?... I do. These are often times the people who i "iconize", meaning i try to pattern my life a little like theirs, and i study what they seem to be doing right. Sometimes i don't like the "got it all together" people but we're not talking about them right now. Anyways... I've seen first hand recently just how torn apart some of the lives of people, who i thought had it all together, are.  Now yes, i'm going to say, there are people, who have it almost just right, they've got it almost perfect (note the almost) and they're doing pretty good. More power to them, I'll be praying for no major falls, but it could happen to any one of them, any day.  People are humans... meaning that we fell, we've been falling, and we'll keep falling 'til we get to heaven. Even in the people who's lives look almost "there" i can usually spot the problems, the little human issues that every person and family has. No one, i repeat, NO ONE has it all together. Some are screaming just under the surface, Some... are close to good, some have a sucky (to put it lightly) life, or circumstance,  and do the best they can with what they've got. While some, don't hide at all, they say look at me, i'm flawed, and why try to be better. Let's face it folks, if we think we've got it all together, we're seriously overlooking something. I may look, to a lot of people, like one of those who's got it all together, i can assure you, i don't. Some of my friends have definitely gotten the brunt of my venting... sorry to you guys (you know who you are), but i've got to tell someone my issues. I've been through the phases where i'm screaming just under the surface, it sucks, i know this from experience. I've been dangerously close to stopping trying, giving up, and adding a whole lot more flaws to my plate... things i really would have regretted had i taken that path, so i've almost been there, i can understand first hand why people go there, and i have no place, or desire to judge you if you're there. Right now, i don't really like where i am. I have a whole lot of crap attacking me from almost every side... but i'm gonna do the best i possibly can with what i get. And i'm gonna try to have the right attitude about it too. So ya... i have a whole boat load of issues. I've watched people fall apart at the seams because they try to hide all of their issues. I've seen people assess their life and say, screw it, it's not even worth trying to be ok anymore. And i've definitely seen people who have it really darn close to what's "good"...but i don't live with them, i can't hear their thoughts, i don't know every single thing they know, or person they talk to, or thing they go through. For all i know, they might just be waiting to fall apart tomorrow. So no, If you think i'm a "good little church girl" please drop that right now. yes, i want to be good, i want to "have it all together", and i want to follow god every step of the way. but i don't want to be seen as perfect. i'm not, i'm never going to be, and i don't want to pretend to be. We all need to learn to look at people for what they are... human, because you never know what's really behind a facade, and one of the absolute worst things (i know this from experience) is having people who try to stuff you into a facade. It might shock you to realize, your pastor's not perfect, his family has not got it all together, so don't expect him to. Encourage him, build him up, when he falls, help him up. but don't expect him to never fall. Think about the person/people in your life, that you dream of being just like, you want what they've got, in your own life. They do not have it all together, and they never will. So stop looking at them as if they're perfect. They're human just like the rest of us. Yes, look at what they may be doing right, take tips that they have to offer, and encourage them if they're doing well, because that's a great place to be. But one of these days they'll be in the pits too, god hasn't "specially favored" them, and said, "oh, i'll just let their life be easy, and always happy". Stop feeling like you're the only one who can possibly have it this bad. Yes, life really sucks sometimes, maybe it's even sucked your whole life so far. But someday, at least if you have the same perfect eternal father that i do, we'll all get to be in a perfect place, with perfect people forever. That's the ultimate end. Because there is only one being who really does have it all together. And he cares, whether we feel it or not. So you don't have it all together? That's ok. Neither do i. And neither does he/she/they.