The Complexities of Romantic Relationships

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddFmnEBJr5c

    The above is a link to a Maroon 5 song, She Will Be Loved. I became intrigued with it recently when I happened to be watching one of their concerts. As the lead singer, Adam Levine, introduced the song he dedicated it to the women in the audience. He also made the statement that it's because of women that men can write songs. I am sure that he was inspired by someone to write this song.
     I am always intrigued by men's viewpoints about women. Maybe it's because I am a woman, I don't know. A book that was written some time ago, Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus, tries to make the point that men and women are very different. Somehow I don't think men are that much different from women at all. I think we are different as humans but not because of gender.
     I have been in a committed relationship with a man for over 30 years, he also happens to be my husband. let me tell you folks, it hasn't been a bed of roses. At times I felt like I should be committed. What keeps me in this relationship, one thing, love. I remember the very first fight we had, he left to give us some space, when he came home that night he pulled out the cutest little gray and white kitten from underneath his jacket. We made up. You build a history when you're with someone that long. There are those moments we share that are burned into both of our hearts and bind us together.
     I think the greatest thing in any romantic relationship is when you know your partner yet you do not take one another for granted. That can be the greatest hurdle of all. But it is so worth it to look at your partner for their value and not their faults. What is it that we love about romantic movies, it is that first love, new love. I love to hear stories of how couples met and fell in love.
      It's hard to remember why you fell in love with someone when you are in the throes of a heated argument. But the making up can be great, after all I wouldn't have gotten my sweet little kitten if my husband hadn't been repairing our relationship, in some ways I think it makes that kitten much more special to me.

     Don't get me wrong, my husband has done things for me or brought things home just because he knows I would love them, such as the time he brought me home paper white bulbs to grow. It could have been a dozen roses, but he knows I love to grow plants, after all he put up with all of my plants when we lived in a much smaller house. Every year at Christmas it has become our tradition to grow paper white bulbs, but I will never forget the first paper whites, they are a symbol of his love and care for me.
    
     Any relationship can be a complex thing, but romantic relationships are where the rubber meets the road. You live, eat and breathe with the closeness of the other person. Sure, sometimes you will take that person for granted, life is messy, but when it comes down to the end of it all you're glad that they are there because life just wouldn't be the same without them.
    
    

Love

     I like watching sappy Christmas movies because they embody a spirit of giving. In this country especially at this time of year it seems to be more about what you are getting, especially materially. But in order to get something someone has to give.
     The best thing about the message of Christmas is the one that you don't have to have alot materially to give that which is most important and that is love. You can't buy it and you can't sell it. You can't even see it because it is something that lives inside of you.
     One of my favorite movies is It's A Wonderful Life. It's the story of George Bailey, a regular guy. George had plans for his life, big plans. He was going to get out of Bedford Falls, the town where he grew up. He was going to make something of himself but he got sidelined. He met Mary, fell in love, got married and had some kids. Then things went terribly wrong in his life, so much so that he wished he'd never been born, enter Clarence, an angel who gives him his wish. George gets to see how other people's  lives would have turned out if he had not been born and it wasn't good. You see he did things that had a positive impact on the people around him, including saving his brother's life. He also gets to experience being there, interacting with his friends, but nobody knows who he is because he was never born. He experiences true despair because he is disconnected from the very people he had the greatest connection with and their connection is love. The greatest seeming trouble which had to do with money, the very thing that caused George to wish he had never been born, somehow is no longer important. So George wants to go back, his wish is granted. George's joy knows no bounds, his friends know him, his beloved Mary is there. George's friends rally around him to help him out of the financial difficulty. None of them have alot, but when pooled together their resources become more than enough.
     The greatest lesson learned is that each individual is special and precious. You were born for a reason. Your life blesses others. I pray for each one of you that read these words, that you would realize how precious you are, you are a blessing, you are the pearl of great price. God so loved you that He gave that which was most precious to Him, just for you.      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdHBx34ALjU