S I N G LE NE S S .
HOPE-FILLED ROMANTIC . I A M A D M I T T E D LY O N E O F “ T H E S E P E O P L E ” . T H I RT Y. S I N G L E . A N D A H O P E L E S S R O M A N T I C . ( I F T H AT I S N O T A W I N N I N G I N S TA G R A M B I O … )
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opeless. A hopeless romantic to be exact. Someone who lives and breathes love stories and happy endings. They are considered hopeless because of the amount of people willing to live with such great hope for love in a calloused world of pain and heartache is dwindling. These are the people who choose to believe in love anyway. I am admittedly one of “these people”. Thirty. Single. And a hopeless romantic. (If that is not a winning Instagram bio…) But let’s be honest, it can be tough being single around holidays because of the romance and pressure to be in a relationship. Our romantic side tries to hide to protect us from the pain of singleness or we overexpose our hearts to anyone simply in search of affirmation in return. No matter if we are single or married, we want to believe in love but we do not want to get hurt. There is a risk when we choose to have hope for love. Titanic has been my favorite movie since I first saw it as a 10 year old curled up on my parents’ couch. That was the night I knew I believed in love stories of epic proportions. This is when I knew I was a hopeless romantic. Jack and Rose (main characters) fall madly in love instantaneously, passionately and dramatically. There story was over almost as quickly as it began. When the Unsinkable Ship sank into the bottom of the frigid Atlantic, Jack sacrificed his life for Rose. (And no, they were not both able to fit on the door! Ask MythBusters!).
Titanic was the highestgrossing movie of all time (now Avatar). Many fans went back 45 times to see it again in theaters. It is a three hour movie that ends tragically. Why? Why would that many people spend that much money to watch that long of a tragic movie that many times? How was this film able to capture the hearts of people everywhere? Because this love story tapped into our innate desire to believe in a love that was instantaneous, passionate and sacrificial. This was real romance. This was true love. We are made to long for a love like this. We are made to be hopefilled romantics. Too often we project our desire and hope for an epic love story on others who cannot realistically live up to our expectations. We become disappointed. Calloused. Upset. Hopeless. Walls begin to go up and people begin to be shut out. Or maybe you find yourself on the other side sharing all of yourself with anyone who will give you affirmation to feel loved. I have done both. I have been empty, numb even, while in search of the Love I know exists. The only One who can meet us in our pain, hurt, loneliness, and love us the whole way through. His name is Jesus. Every time we watch a movie and our hearts respond to the epic love story on screen, we are responding the created longing in our own hearts for our Creator. This is Him drawing us (continued on next page)