Annal 55: Tale from my Birthday

My oldest brother and his family came to visit us for the last week, and as such, rooms have been rearranged and I find myself sleeping on our rather comfortable couch.  As my youngest sister headed off to bed last night she looked at me and said, "Don't worry, your protector is looking out for you."

She was referring to the birthday card resting on top of our piano with an image or a rather intense-looking Thornton on the front.  I  had to laugh; he did look like he was scoping out the room, ready to defend me at the slightest provocation.

It was my birthday yesterday, and my gift from my single friend seems to be the culmination of so many of my various blog entries that I felt I must share.  The card is all-Thornton.  His picture is on the front and inside, with his line "You're coming home with me?" written across the inside.  She bestowed upon me a novel entitled A Hopeless Romantic.  I feel as if this should be somewhat self-explanatory.  I'm a hopeless romantic, the heroine is a hopeless romantic--it just seems to fit.  She then created two magnets for me; one has a picture of Knightley and his "Men of sense do not want silly wives" quotation (it was this line that gave me hope that perhaps one day I will actually find a man who will, indeed, want me) and the other has a picture of Rochester (2007 BBC version) with a section of one of his most stirring speeches.  Lastly, I received two mugs from her.  One has a picture of Knightley with one of the most romantic quotations ever: "I cannot make speeches... if I loved you less I might be able to talk about it more."  On the reverse side of the cup it states "I Love Knightley."  The other one I am currently drinking my morning coffee out of.  On the back it says "I Love Rochester" and on the front there is an  image of him and his line "Get away from me, Witch." 

I feel the need to pause for a moment.

...

Terribly sorry but with so many intense stares, and heart-wrenching lines, I find myself having trouble catching my breath.  Perhaps drinking from my Rochester mug will assist my breathing.

...

Nope, it did not help ;)

All melodrama aside I had a wonderful birthday day.  Two of my dear friends came to visit, it was one of the nicest days of the summer, and I am still scratching some of my hives from where I got a little too much sun (yeah, nice romantic image, isn't it?).

What I found interesting is that this birthday filled me with hope.  I do not despair of growing another year older but instead grow excited for what this coming year may hold.  Who knows what adventures God will orchestrate this year, what friendships He will help me to develop, what truths He will reveal.  I find myself looking forward in eager anticipation.  Who am I to place a limit of God and what He is capable of doing and revealing?  This last year turned out nothing like I imagined; it had so many ups and downs, not to mention many a surprising detour due to the washing out of other routes.  But I don't regret it.  Rather, I am seeing how He has used all of it to reveal Himself and to help shape me into what I hope is the woman that He wants me to be.  I look forward to seeing what happens this year (I give you all permission to remind me of this when I am complaining in a month's time about whatever 'horrid' thing I feel is taking place).

Before I sign off I want to leave you with a quote from my dear friend, Rochester, not because of its depth but because I hope it stops the occasional heart like it does mine :D

"It is as if I had a string somewhere under my left ribs, tightly and inextricably knotted to a similar string situated in the corresponding quarter of your little frame."

Sigh.

Such is the life of a Christian single.

Annal 28: Tale from the First Date

For anyone out there who did not believe me that Mr. Darcy would be my date to the movie theatre last night, I write this post to spite you.  All you have to do is look at the pictures below to see how devoted we were to each other.

See, while other women were oogling (yes, oogling) Ryan Reynolds as The Green Lantern I felt no envy for while I watched the movie, Darcy watched me.  He had eyes only for me.  It was incredibly romantic.  No words needed to be spoken between us--it was as if we had known each other all our lives. 

Of course now I look at these pictures and I shake my head and laugh.  This is what my life has turned into.  There are no single, Christian men in my community so I have resorted to taking pictures of literary heroes to the theatre with me.  I give such pictures drinks from my cup during the movie.  I find myself realizing that I could quite seriously turn into a woman with an assortment of photos who takes a different one out for every occasion.  Suddenly Thornton will attend me to dinner, Rochester for walks, and Darcy to the movies.  My life is spiralling into an epic mixture of eccentric, dull, singledom.

Such is the life of a Christian single.

Annal 13: Tale from the BBC

Yesterday was a beautiful day.  The sun shone, I was able to drink coffee and do my devotions on the front porch before church, and it was a service where I left feeling as if I had been recharged.  What made the day even better, was spending the afternoon watching North and South for the second time.  John Thornton (played by Richard Armitage) still made me breathless and caused my heart to palpitate.

I go through phases.  For the most part, I’m okay with being single.  God has me in this place right now for a reason, and I intend to do everything I can to fulfill His purpose for me at this point.  At other times, it gets really hard.  Sadly, my addiction to BBC dramas does not help with this much.

Do I expect Richard Armitage, dressed as Thornton, to walk through the door, look at me, and profess his undying love for me?  No, I am not COMPLETELY unrealistic.  But what gets to me is the way that he looks at Margaret in the final scene of the movie.  I know that movies are not what you base your idea of romance and love on, but in the final scene Thornton looks at Margaret as if she is the only person who exists.  He is completely unaware of anything or anyone else.

I sometimes have to ask, “God, will anyone ever look at me that way?”

I know His timing is perfect, I know He has a plan; I’m really good at giving myself the lecture I gave to all my other friends back when they were still single.

But still I wonder.

And so I am left with four options:

Option One—Abandon the BBC

·         If literature and its dramatic representations only serve to remind me of what I am missing, perhaps I should go cold turkey.

Option Two—Join the BBC

·         Don’t they need a token Canadian actor who attempts to feign a British accent?

Option Three—Move to England

·         I have a five year plan in mind

o   Finish of my degree

o   Work up north for a couple of years to pay off student loans and put some money into savings

o   Move to England where I am at least surrounded by men who SOUND like Thornton and my other BBC heroes (thanks to my sister-in-law for this suggestion)

Option Four—Wait

·         Continue praying for myself and others and simply follow Him where He leads.  After all, His timing is perfect despite being different from my own.

Such is the life of a Christian single.