Michael is my love, and I remember well the early days of our romance and how intoxicated I was with his love for me. I became the beauty he captured. He was my perfect prince on a white horse (ok, he’s from NYC and never’d been on a horse) but to me, he could do nothing wrong.
Everything he did seemed sweet, thoughtful, and romantic. And, it truly was.
Michael is a musician and before we were married he further captivated my heart with seven mushy love songs about being the bone of his bone and about being his Proverbs 31 woman.
Rose-Colored Glasses
During those early days of courtship and the anticipation of our wedding day I wore rose colored glasses. I didn’t know I wore them, but I did.
All the little things I did notice about my prince which I thought were just a little different I simply pushed away – because I was in love. I was smitten. He had me at hello.
Nothing was going to throw water on the flame of our love. Besides, I think, subconsciously, I’d tucked away a little, tiny thought that I could fix or change those things that were different about him.
My Rose-Colored Glasses Broke
Somewhere between the first and second year of our marriage, my favorite rose-colored glasses broke. I began to notice those little differences which I’d previously ignored.
As I began to observe them, they no longer seemed quite so little and to be honest, they started to really annoy me. I'm the kind of woman that when things annoy me I'm going to change those things that annoy me so that life can be "happy and perfect" again. (Wrong belief about life here.)
Fairy Tale Stories
I love fairy tales. Most women love fairy tales, romantic movies, and novels. It’s in our DNA. God put it in us.
Don't you think most women wanted to grow up to be like Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty or Belle? And, don’t we want to know that somehow we are worth being pursued and romanced?
There's just something in us that says we were created to be the beauty the prince pursues, chooses, and captures.
Red Hot Fire
One analogy of love is that that it’s like a flame—a red hot fire. I think that’s how those initial love stages are —a red-hot fire.
Another analogy of love is found in the Song of Songs, where love is described as the picture of a vineyard - lush vines of grapes draping hillsides. While spending the summer of 1972 in Germany, I was fortunate to take a trip down the Rhine and see with my eyes the beauty of such vineyards.
Vineyards and Little Foxes
In Chapter 2 of Song of Songs, King Solomon and the Shulamite (like Michael and I) were starry-eyed lovers, but in reading that story it seemed as if something was trying to eat away their love. “Quick! Catch all the little foxes before they ruin the vineyard of your love, for the grapevines are all in blossom.”
I wondered how a fox could destroy a vineyard and in my research, I discovered that the fox is very common in the Middle East (as the coyote is here in the desert!!) and that there at least three different kinds.
Fox are small, sly and dog-like. Similar to the desert coyote. Generally, they're nocturnal and do there work at night where I understand that it's common to hear that dreadful haunting howl as they escaped through their destructive work in the vineyards.
What I learned is that the fox (like the coyote) are good at digging and that is the general method they use to get into the vineyard (or the chicken coop). They'll dig under the fencing and destroy the root system of the vineyard. They'll dig holes and make tunnels - thus loosening the dirt around the vines and the root system. Any loosed soil around a root system, will destroy it in time.
I thought Fox would eat the fruit, but they don't - they destroy it - by destroying it's very root system.
Fox can climb and dig and destroy and like the modern farmer or chicken lover, all menaces must be watched for carefully.
Foxes Spoiling Our Love
Not only had my rose-colored glasses stopped working, but little foxes began to show up every where in those first years of my marriage. They'd worked there way into our vineyard and before we knew it, that sweet red - hot love of a flame was nothing more than an occassionaly flicker......... (part 2 next week).
Related Posts
1. Let Him Kiss Me with the Kisses of His Mouth
2. A Step Toward a Stronger Marriage
3 The Power of the Bedroom - Sex Talk
4. Fuses That Hinder Marriage
A Little Love Story - Part 1
http://lylahledner.blogspot.com/2009/02/little-love-story-part-1.html
