Who to Marry

I don't know about you, but when I was young I thought about who I would marry, what he would be like, look like or how he would treat me. I can honestly say I'm gkad the man I married was the man I thought I'd marry when I was little. That man doesn't exist at all, he was probably a mixture of my dad, my brothers, the prince off of movies like Cinderella, beauty and the beast and my friends brothers. (I know I'm not the only one who had crushes on my friends bros) but those men don't exist, atleast the combonation of them.

15)Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. (16)For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. (17)The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.
1 John 2:15b-17(NIV)

My expectations were high, of the world. My standard bar was way over what reality is. I think at one point I had 36 expectations for the man I would marry, which yes would have made him the perfect man...not happening. I remember I told my dad about my list and he was really shocked, and told me that all of the "expectations" I have in a man is a good goal but not it isn't reality. 

By the time I started dating some of the ideals I wanted in a guy wasn't a big deal, in some ways this was good and some ways were bad. I set my standard so high that no guy could ever reach them, therefore i settled for the next best.

Don't get me wrong, we should all have things we really want in a man, Godly man, leader in the family,  hard working...etc... but things like funny, makes me smile, has good styles.....those aren't exactly super important things. You won't smile all the time, he may not be that funny. The fact is: the ideals that we have when we're young may not be what we God has planned for us when the time comes.

If you've seen the movie, "Father of the Bride" the father has a flash back to when his daughter was young and she's sitting at the table explaining the man she is going to marry when she is grown, she says, "dad I met a man in Rome, and he's wonderful and brilliant and handsome and we're getting married" you later Finns out that the happy couple have a fight and struggle a bit, call off the wedding then still get married. Her expectations were so high that when she received a blender from her beloved show was not happy at all.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that expectations are good, but don't set them so high that when hard times come it shocks you. Be prepared for the great times and the  to so great times. Maybe when he isn't making you laugh at the moment. 

(7)Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
1 John 4:7a(NIV)

I've learned that loving Andrew the way God loves Andrew is way easier than loving him the way the world loves him. It's unconditional, instead of conditional, it's forgiving instead of holding grudges. It's a wonderful kid of love!