The REAL happily ever after...

As little girls we dream of the day our prince will come and sweep us off of our feet, the day we will get our happily ever after. But what does that truly entail? A blissful marriage with no bumps along the road? HA! What real marriage is that perfect? We are two completely different humans with completely different upbringings living with each other and despite the love and adoration that is there, there is bound to be some fights and turmoil throughout the years. The question then becomes will we allow ourselves to cling to the disillusion of the fairytale, or allow our spouses to be who God created them to be? Including the good, bad, and stubborn.  When we focus solely on the fairytale, things go very wrong. We open ourselves and our marriages to becoming susceptible to outside influence. We will always love our spouses, but is it always in that butterflies and weak knees sort of way? Absolutely not! Those feelings are fleeting and when that is gone whats is left? God and God alone. Without Him marriages dissolve, many times in search of that feeling again, the temptation that comes from Satan's desire to destroy what God has joined together.  So how do we shield ourselves and our marriages from the temptations of the devil? By trusting in the Lord when our spouses(and ourselves) show their humanity. We aren't perfect and neither are the men we love, but when we strive to love them the way God does, things become easier to forgive. Remember, what God has joined together-let no man separate!