If you were one of those favored people that everyone wanted to date or be like, then feel free to skip this post because you might not understand where I'm coming from. For the rest of us, I expect you'll know what I mean. We all had a time - and maybe still live there - where we longed to be that popular and interesting person that seemed to have all the cool friends and get all the dates. Contentment with ourselves seemed impossible and no matter who paid us attention, we just weren't satisfied. For most people it is simply an adolescent phase, though a few drag it into adulthood and beyond. Regardless of how real it feels, it isn't a healthy place to live.
I was (am) most certainly that girl with the super sensitive feelings who noticed when all the boys paid attention to miss beautiful and all the girls didn't mind me if there was no one more interesting around. The longing and discontentment, while maybe I hid it well - not sure, followed me around like a dark cloud. I've been married 10 1/2 years to quite my uncomfortable opposite that has forced me to learn and grow more than anyone in my life. It has certainly not always been fun, easy or even felt good (because growing is hard), but friends I just want to say something. It only takes one relationship, maybe a best friend, maybe a husband, or maybe just a committed relationship with God, to satisfy those longings our adolescent conjures up. It doesn't take attention from ALL the boys or all the popular kids, it just takes one faithful, authentic relationship to heal old wounds and teach the heart true commitment and devotion. It's so easy to get a perfectionistic view of what we want or demand in a relationship that distorts truth as well, but it only takes one good one to realize how unnecessary all that fixating is.
Tomorrow marks 3 weeks since my third child was born and the closing of a most stressful and trying adventure. There's much to say about that, but I'll save it for another post. What is significant is that Mr. Butler is and was the most amazing faithful friend and partner I could have had in all of the things we had to do. He was the perfect strength in my weakness. We have weathered all kinds of storms together so it didn't surprise me when we stared down this one together. However, it did overwhelm me how far the 14 year old girl I sometimes still carried around in my heart had come. It only took my (aged and purified) relationship with Mr. Butler to stamp out the foolish comparisons and longings of my youth. So, whether you find yourself stuck in a cycle of longing or as our children grow through these stages, let's remember how many lies adolescent sneaks in. It doesn't take the popular crowd or the cutest boy or even the perfect 15 friends to satisfy our hearts. It just takes one relationship of truth and stability to ground us where all others can come and go for the best without constantly pulling us out of orbit.
I was (am) most certainly that girl with the super sensitive feelings who noticed when all the boys paid attention to miss beautiful and all the girls didn't mind me if there was no one more interesting around. The longing and discontentment, while maybe I hid it well - not sure, followed me around like a dark cloud. I've been married 10 1/2 years to quite my uncomfortable opposite that has forced me to learn and grow more than anyone in my life. It has certainly not always been fun, easy or even felt good (because growing is hard), but friends I just want to say something. It only takes one relationship, maybe a best friend, maybe a husband, or maybe just a committed relationship with God, to satisfy those longings our adolescent conjures up. It doesn't take attention from ALL the boys or all the popular kids, it just takes one faithful, authentic relationship to heal old wounds and teach the heart true commitment and devotion. It's so easy to get a perfectionistic view of what we want or demand in a relationship that distorts truth as well, but it only takes one good one to realize how unnecessary all that fixating is.
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There is a lot that I dislike about this picture. It is NOT a perfect shot of us.
But it doesn't take perfect to fill up the soul.
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Tomorrow marks 3 weeks since my third child was born and the closing of a most stressful and trying adventure. There's much to say about that, but I'll save it for another post. What is significant is that Mr. Butler is and was the most amazing faithful friend and partner I could have had in all of the things we had to do. He was the perfect strength in my weakness. We have weathered all kinds of storms together so it didn't surprise me when we stared down this one together. However, it did overwhelm me how far the 14 year old girl I sometimes still carried around in my heart had come. It only took my (aged and purified) relationship with Mr. Butler to stamp out the foolish comparisons and longings of my youth. So, whether you find yourself stuck in a cycle of longing or as our children grow through these stages, let's remember how many lies adolescent sneaks in. It doesn't take the popular crowd or the cutest boy or even the perfect 15 friends to satisfy our hearts. It just takes one relationship of truth and stability to ground us where all others can come and go for the best without constantly pulling us out of orbit.
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