Love for God and in a relationship... desultory randomness to follow 8D

So I went to church tonight. It was completely and utterly awesome...

I already had a blog in my head in regards to love and overcoming obstacles, but I decided that I could merge the blogs together between church and that... It'll make sense, or it makes sense to me anyway.

We were singing and the song, "You are the love of my life" really really spoke to me. I can't seem to find the lyrics, but one could get the gist of it. It's talking about how God is the love of my life and he strengthens me and loves me and I can't live without him.

I have been going about this all wrong... God is the love of my life. Yes, I truly feel that someday He will find someone that's right for me, but the foundation of me should be Christ, always, regardless of the relationship in my life. Christ gives me self esteem and teaches me at every turn. I have been so stubborn and tried it all on my own for waaaaay too long. The Lord is so forgiving and for that I am so thankful...

Here, I want to talk about love. When we fall in love, the euphoria takes over. After things get difficult, we must make a choice, float away or hang on and work through it...

Analogy time 8)

When I was a teenager, I went mountain climbing in Colorado. One time, we had to cross a stream, and though it wasn't huge, the current was quite swift. There were some rocks to cross on, but they were a bit wiggly and slippery. The leader picked several young men to take off their shoes and socks and stand in the stream so that we could hold onto their hands while crossing the stream. By the way, the stream was cooooold. This is water from melted snow, so it's basically 35-40 degrees, which is pretty chilly 8). They dug their heels into the sediment at the bottom of the creek, which gave them a sense of foundation.

My point is this... We can walk along, enjoying the scenery in love, and then an obstacle lays before us. We must decide whether to run or to tough it out... Stick our feet into the water and stabilize our bodies by digging our heels into the sediment. We're gonna go two ways with this...

First, let's talk in regards to God, as He is the foundation, or should be of any relationship... I've learned this the hard way recently. He should be the foundation of my relationship with myself, and I'm learning that 8). At first, when we get baptized or dedicate or lives to Christ or go onto a church retreat, there's that high... That euphoria that we want to continue, but it never does when real life sets in. We must decide to work for that closeness in Christ, praying, reading the Bible, going to church,  etc. Im not the best at any of this, so please don't get me wrong... I'm working on it.

Now for relationships... that euphoria wears off and real life begins. We must make a conscious decision. Do we run or do we work on it? This is the true part of a relationship. Up until now, I have been swept away by the fantasies of relationships and my ideals. Now, this is what I want... A relationship founded in strength and depending on God and each other to weather the storms (or to walk through the streams) of life. i think this is a much more realistic approach to relationships...

We have to consciously tell our partner we love them and to focus on their needs. In focusing on my self esteem, I will be much better at this in the future for all of my relationships, whether it be my kids, friends, fam, etc and when I'm ready, a relationship.

Don't outsmart your commonsense.
 Never let your prayin' knees get lazy,
  And love like crazy -- Lee Brice.