HAPPILY EVER AFTER?

Some of you may be aware that I finally joined the 21st Century a few weeks ago and got a Facebook account. It has been a wonderful way to keep up with current friends and reconnect with old friends.  But something yesterday on Facebook rocked my world.

I happened to notice a friend of mine's relationship status.  She is single.  She wasn't single when I knew her.  In fact, she and her husband were people we looked up to as a great married couple.  They were/are godly people who love Jesus so much and wanted so much to encourage Christ's people.  They had been married quite a while and raised some great kids, too.  So, HOW did that happen?  HOW did the King and Queen of Beautiful Marriage split?  I don't know the answer.  But I have my suspicions.  Kind of like a Grimm Fairy Tale.....

Once upon a time, there was a knight.  Not just A knight, but a prince in the making.  He met a beautiful damsel and realized immediately, probably even before she did, that she was no ordinary damsel, but a lovely princess.  When she met him, she did not need a magic mirror to answer her inquiry, "Who is the fairest of them all?"  When she looked into the knight's face, she clearly saw that it was she.

And he proved it.  He went to battle for her.  He fought the temptations of other damsels.  He slayed the dragons that came against his princess and put them to death...or at least to shame.  She responded to him by giving him all of her.  Her heart, her love, her life.  They fell very in love and married and set up kingdom somewhere.

And they lived happily.

The Prince (for that is what her love had made him) slayed less dragons and went off to the corporate world to conquer and provide for his love.  The Princess (for his love made her that) stayed home to make his palace a refuge for her Prince when he came home weary.

And they lived happily.

Not very long after their union, they were blessed with darling children.  Laughter and sweetness filled their castle.  They busied themselves together and became no longer just a Prince and Princess, but a Family.

And they lived happily.

With so many loves in his life, the Prince now found it necessary to conquer more beasts and foes and bring home more plunder to support his bustling household.  The Princess was now finding her time going to household management and the raising of children.  While the things they did gave them joy,  the  Prince and the Princess grew tired and weary.  When he came home she greeted him as Provider, no longer Prince.  And when she looked in the magic mirror of his face, the reflection she saw was Housewife.  They loved no professions better, but they could not see the blessing of it at times, in context to their relationship.

And they lived on.

The Prince longed to be a knight again, fighting dragons once more instead of toiling in industry.  He became forlorn at times.  He yearned for an easier and more fulfilling life.  He turned to the Princess for support, but she was so consumed with her role as Housewife, that she could not see herself as a princess anymore.

And they lived complacently ever after.

You know why?

Because God creates wives and husbands to fill specific places in each others' hearts.  When they become overwhelmed or complacent, those places gape. It isn't that they don't love each other anymore...it is that they don't feel loved by each other anymore. The only way to close them is by making each other feel special. Like the Prince and Princess that they are. So why don't couples do that?  Why don't they just say what they need to feel special?

Because once they have to tell each other what makes them feel special, it is no longer special.  Special is when someone does something out of their own heart.....not as something to check off a list.  And not just on holidays but all the time.  It is something unexpected, thoughtful, loving.

That is why Jesus tells us to think of others before ourselves.  It is easy to love the Prince and Princess in your life when they love you first.  But, how hard is it to think of the other when your own kingdom duties burden your heart?  It is very hard.  That is why Jesus has to TELL us to consider others more important than ourselves.

Don't sit in the dungeon of self pity and depression. Storm the castle gates of your love's heart.

And live happily ever after......for each other.