Hopelessly Romantic

Star log: It's currently 11:00 p.m. on Friday night. As of now I have consumed one Taco Bell chalupa, two servings of Walmart macaroni salad, three pieces of fried chicken, and one large heaping helping of "awwww," courtesy of the movie Letters to Juliet.

I've seen this movie more times than I can count.
And I still love it. (The scene above gets me going every time.)

What's not to love? There's a sweet young lady who travels with her jerk of a fiancee to Verona, Italy (THE CITY OF LOVE FOR LORD'S SAKE), finds a group of beautiful older women who write letters to heartsick females under the pseudonym of Juliet Capulet, writes a response to a fifty-year-old-letter she found in a brick, helps the writer of that letter find her true love and falls in love with the letter writer's adorable British grandson. (Yes, I do realize that was the longest sentence ever written. And I don't care.) IT'S BEAUTIFUL AND I CRY EVERY TIME.

Being a hopeless romantic is much like wielding a double-edged sword. It's wonderful getting wrapped up and believing in all of the love displayed in books, movies and television; but, a hopeless romantic also runs the risk of developing unrealistic standards of love and romance. (Not to mention the fact that we have an extreme tendency to walk out of every movie starring Rachel McAdams with teary streaks of mascara running down our faces.)

There's a little bit of hopeless romantic in all of us. Even under the most callous facades, the hope that our true soul mate is somewhere walking the earth is always present in our heart of hearts. When one endures the most unexpected of heartbreaks, there is still that glimmer of hope that reminds him to get back up and try again. That is because it is a natural tendency for the heart to feel love over hate. And for some of us (aka the hopeless romantics), that tendency is intensified about tenfold.

I love love. Nothing makes me happier than seeing the "in a relationship" or "got engaged to" tags on my newsfeed. Sometimes, the only programs I watch on TV are "Say Yes to the Dress" and "My Fair Wedding." I love it all. It makes me excited for the kind of love I will have one day.

But in order to be ready for that day, I am focusing on finding a different kind of true love. I am strengthening the truest, deepest relationship there I have: my relationship with Jesus Christ. This relationship has been 18 years in the making, and I plan to make it even stronger (within the year and forever!). I'm making this relationship stronger so my other relationships can follow suit.

I'm growing up. I'm becoming an adult. Within the next ten years, I could be married to my soul mate and preparing to make a family. In order to be ready to find the good, kind, Christian man I am looking for in a husband, I must first fall deeper and more in love with my Lord and Savior. Jesus's death and resurrection is an extremely important part of the greatest love story the world has ever known. There is no greater love than the love that Christ Jesus has shown for us! Romans 8:38-39 says, "For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, that will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."

That, my friends is the true love that all hopeless romantics (and everyone else) can satisfy their hearts with.

But that doesn't mean there won't be room for another RomCom. Hitting play: now.

Brandon Heath is amazing, and this song makes my heart full with love for God and life. Enjoy!

"Nothing can separate you from His love." Romans 8:39