And They Lived Happily Ever After
I’m still sappy during this Love Month. I felt like a Queen Mother after Prince Charming (my son) showed up with a bouquet of flowers (intentional with yellow roses – his dad and my favorites), then rushed to open the car door to take me on a Valentine’s lunch date. He gave me full attention for three hours. I was enamored. So, of course I’ll carry on with my happily-ever-after life. Happily —- not because of a beloved son or husband or boyfriend – happily because that’s the life we can choose to live with our Prince of Peace Who promises us His peace and joy and life everlasting.
Here’s the melodramatic side of me that ignites fairy tale romances. Ah! Cinderella and her Prince Charming — my fav! The prince falls in love with the workhorse girl, who is buried in ashes. He searches the kingdom, finds her, and slides the glass slipper on her foot like an engagement ring. Next comes the story ending: “And they lived happily ever after.”
Uh! Reality check! That’s not how real-life stories go. Let’s fast-forward a year and Prince Charming is no longer charming. In fact, he’s become somewhat boring, leaves his underwear on the floor, the stool lid up, watches way too many sports shows, belches out loud, and snores like a buzz-saw! And then there’s Cinderella who upsets her prince because she is overspending on more shoes. She gets emotional at the drop of a pin and spends way too much time on the phone with her mother and friends. How’s that for a reality check to our dream romances?
Marriages come with many grandiose expectations. I’ll never forget receiving the phone call from my emotional and tearful daughter just days after her marriage. Her husband’s underwear was pink after washing them with a red sheet. A little consoling and directions for returning them to their original color, resolved that reality check.
Of course, we all want the fairy tale — the happily ever after. Truth is it can happen when we get our love priorities in the right order. That daughter of mine and her amazing husband have found heaven-on-earth together. They just celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary and are more in love than they ever thought possible.
True love may falter, but it can survive. When we break, and we do, we pick up the pieces and fit them together again. The pieces may not fit together the same way as they did in the wedding pictures, but we fit together in a new way — the way of allowing God to be the glue that holds us together even stronger than ever.
Best. News. Ever. We DO have the perfect spouse. His name is Jesus, and one day we’ll be in heaven with Him for our REAL happily-ever-after story. No human relationship can completely fulfill our need for love. When those we love fall short, it’s a signal to our souls to turn to Jesus Who helps make all other relationships right!
Many times over, scripture describes God’s people as a bride with words like these: “As a bridegroom rejoices over His bride, so will your God rejoice over you” (Isaiah 62:5). This is what’s truer than a fairy tale for us during this month of love. We’re loved beyond what we can even imagine. Whether we are single or married, we are the beloved bride of the perfect Husband.
There’s a “happily ever after” in our future. It’s true for those of us who have made Him our Lord and Savior. THE END of that story isn’t THE END. It is THE BEGINNING of forever.