Happily Ever After?

On May 22, 2011, Nathaniel David Lueke asked me to be his girlfriend. This post won't be about how adorable we are (even though we are) or how much we care about each other (even though we do.) :)

Relationships, especially in the media, look so magical. The two protagonists meet, have a problem and suddently hate each other, and then something brings them together again, they get married, and live happily ever after. Sounds about right? So many people go into a relationship with that same mentality, and as soon as things start to get too difficult because they don't meet the expectations that they have, they quit. I am a firm believer in courting. Dating just to date is dumb. If you want to get to know someone better, be their friends first, and then if you see marriage potential, court them. If they don't have a job or a car, or let alone a license to drive with, DONT WASTE YOUR TIME. Back to what I was saying, people nowadays quit on relationships for two reasons:
1) The person was not right for them.
2) They were not willing to fight for the other person.

Relationships aren't happily ever afters. They take work. Every day you must wake up in the morning, and remember that you must put someone else's feelings, needs, wants, thoughts, views, ect ahead of your own. I'm not saying you let them walk over you, but if you know for a fact that you love this person, all of this will come naturally. You will WANT to put that person ahead of you. You will want to naturally please them.
What happens when fights and struggles come? What happens when you just can't compromise on something and you're both being stubborn? Do you just call it quits and go find the next person to "try it out with" or "get to know" or do you fight for your relationship? Nathan and I do this thing. Every time we get into a really big argument or disagreement, we ask each other: "Do you want to keep going, or do you want to give up? Every time we choose to continue our relationship, we get stronger. Every time we conquer a hurdle, our love for each other grows. If fighting good? In my opinion, yes. It's the way we handle the outcome of the problem that determines whether it will grow us or defeat us.

If daily, your relationship does not grow you spiritually and emotionally, if your significant other doesn't make you love Jesus more, doesn't make you go after the things of God so you are both equally as passionate, it's probably not right. That's a really bold statement, and I might step on some toes, but I honestly don't care. I'm tired of seeing incredible people that are head over heels in love with Jesus, settle for some joker that can't even pick up a bible, let alone tell you what it says. I'm tired of people's fire dying out because they don't have someone that is challenging them daily, instead, they are constantly forced to stoop down to their level, and most of the time, they just stay there. Settled. That's sad. Women, you don't need little boys. Little boys will treat you like little girls. Men of God will treat you like Women of God, and that is what we deserve.

I leave you with one question to ask yourself: Is your relationship making you a better version of you, and challenging you, or is it doing the complete opposite?