Life's No Fairy Tale

“Once upon a time in a land far, far away there lived a beautiful princess.”

Fairy tales. We’ve all read them or had them read to us. And one thing is for sure, regardless how the plot unfolds, we’re absolutely guaranteed a happily ever after. And sometimes it becomes difficult (at least for me) to separate fact from fiction.

And then all of a sudden life happens, and that fantasy is shattered.

Am I the only one who struggles with disappointments? Somehow I doubt it, but I may be more susceptible to it due to my “life is all rainbows and roses” philosophy, as my husband so keenly describes it. I can’t help it; there’s something deep inside me that has always expected the best out of life. After all, you get out of things what you put in, right? And I tried my best to put all of the right things into it. I approached life with caution and careful planning, making sure that I set goals for myself and did my best to achieve. And then I fell prey to Phillip’s relentless wooing (and regardless of what he says now, there was some serious wooing involved :)), and a new piece of my “life plan” fell into place.

Here I am growing older, and hopefully wiser, and yet I still am sometimes struck with the contradiction of how things are supposed to be and the reality of what is. And it is in the middle of these occasional pity parties that I remind myself that despite the fact that my life isn’t a fairy tale, there are fairy tale moments along the way that if I don’t live in the moment, I may just miss. It’s easy to fall into the trap of worrying about the past and the future and in the process, neglect the present. I’ve told Phillip before that sometimes I feel like we say, “Someday, we’ll do… ” or “When we have the money…” or “When things with Avery stabilize…” The painful, non-fairy tale truth is that those days may never come. We’re even reminded throughout the Bible that we’re not promised tomorrow.

There is a lot of truth in the cliché: “It’s not about waiting for the storm to pass; it’s about learning to dance in the rain.” And of course there is, “Enjoy the journey” and “It’s not about how fast you get there; it’s about the climb.”

I didn’t write this blog to depress anyone; I actually hope I can encourage someone. Because if you’re like me, sometimes you just need to be reminded. Unfortunately, disappointments are going to come, and sometimes it seems like some folks get more than their fair share. Here are the words of Jesus, “In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

While I certainly wish I were living in fairy-tale bliss each and every day, I know that if I keep trusting God, my happily-ever-after will come. It may not be on this earth, but it will come.

If you’re feeling discouraged, just remember, God is working even when we don’t see how. Keep the faith!
~Bethany

P.S. When I speak of disappointments, I’m not in anyway disappointed with my husband, family, friends, and certainly not God. I’m just speaking of life in general! Just wanted to clarify.