Romance & A Damsel in Distress

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There are 2 things that melt the feminine heart quicker than anything: Romance & Babies. What woman, or girl for that matter, doesn't delight in a good love story? Be it an age old fairy tale or a modern day novella, we females just have a hankering for romance. The setting & names of characters change from story to story, but the plot, climax, & resolution are always the same...a woman, most always 'a damsel in distress' (even if she doesn't realize she's well...in distress), needs rescuing...the kind of rescuing that only a hero, a knight in shining armor can provide...that rescuing (sometimes physical, but always an emotional deliverance) most typically has the hero (a man of integrity, both gallant & chivalrous) swooping in at the most dire moment to save the damsel from a most fearsome fate. The result of this great deliverance is, of course, an affection of epic proportions...a passionate, love-at-first-sight, happily-ever-after romance....be still my beating heart! Deny it all you want...but I am willing to wager that the vast majority of women get the same kind of rush when hearing such a story....and want such a story for themselves...a real live fairy tale.

Don't be shameful of such a desire...you were created by the Author of Love to want such a romance, & the truth of the matter is there is a glorious love story being written with you as the heroine...the princess, the damsel in distress! My preference is a historical romance so humor me & picture this scene...

Trapped in a great stone tower, surrounded by a vast fortress, was the  beautiful Princess _______ (insert your name here)...  

So great were the barriers entrapping her that she despaired of ever being free...truly free. Her one solace was a shred of hope...perhaps one day she would be rescued. Day in and day out the princess became more melancholy, smothered in the fear that she would always be captive to wretchedness...
There came a day when all hope was gone, when Princess _______ yielded to the truth...she would never be rescued...indeed she probably did not even deserve to be. That realization sent the princess spiraling into despair, & it was at this dire moment that hope became more than a dream...it became reality. In her desolate state, the princess had not noticed the ruckus below her tower...she had not heard the clink of swords striking one another or the grunt of effort from battling men. Through her tears & sobbing...awareness rose...something was amiss. She stumbled to the window & stared astonished at the scene below.

 A man had breached the walls of the fortress. He had struck down her captors, & he was relentlessly fighting...fighting for HER! From somewhere deep within hope sprang forth anew. On pins & needles she watched, breathless as this hero fought valiantly to rescue her. By the time the final obstacle had been overcome it was clear that the man was wounded...mortally so. With his last ounce of strength, he laid himself before her feet...his final words were an offering of the most precious, hard earned gift...She was free at last. This man, who owed her nothing, had fought to the death to release her from captivity...to set her free...to overcome obstacles that she herself could not conquer. He gave his life to do so...Her heart broke in bittersweet agony. She was finally free...but her liberation had come at such a cost. In her wildest dreams of rescue, the conclusion had never been this....but surely this, this sacrifice of life for her sake, for her salvation, was love....

Abba wrote a love story for each of us, dear sisters. He authored an account so rich in passion,so full of  romance...that no work of fiction could rival it. We are indeed damsels in distress...in dire need of rescuing. Without a hero, we are entrapped by a fortress of sin, ensconced in a miry pit that we are incapable of escaping on our own. We need a rescuer...a hero...a Savior...and the Author of Love provided one...
Remember the second thing that women adore?  Babies. Our hero, our rescuer, our Savior, the Lover of Our Soul, came not as a 'Knight in Shining Armor' but as a tiny, precious baby. He grew into manhood, not in the splendor of a kingdom but through the hardships of a commoner's life. He became a hero not cloaked in fine armor, but in humility. He fought for & won our rescue not by the sword, but the the laying down of His life. Our freedom cost Him everything. So often in love stories the hero is rich, wealthy, & powerful, but in this love story the Hero gave all that up, humbled himself in order to become common. He left a Kingdom & a King to become flesh. He willingly sacrificed it all to rescue me...to rescue you. We need not open the pages of a novel nor watch a movie to have a taste of earth shattering love...we need only accept the precious gift of Life that was offered to us that long ago Christmas morn...a baby, a hero in tiny form, a deity humbled...broken, beaten, & murdered to rescue us. What greater romance is there than Agape (selfless) Love? It is no coincidence that our hearts long for love...that we tremble at the thought of Love & at the sight of babies...it is the natural reaction to being created in His image...it is the proof that His love story is the Master Plan & that we have always had a role within it. We are guaranteed a Happily-Ever-After (Eternal Life) if we but embrace that gift, accept it & open it. Our salvation has come, we are rescued! I cannot read a romance novel or watch a chick flick without thinking of Christmas...without realizing that the greatest love story of all was not fiction, but truth, was not an imagining, but reality...without realizing that it is not about some made up character but of a hero in infant form.

Even as I write this my darlings are twirling around the living room, draped in their dress up gowns, & singing Disney songs of love...their hearts are hardwired to crave this romance...not far away their baby dolls are tucked in for a 'nap' & it is clear that even little ladies are already innately embracing the roles that Abba has written upon their hearts. It is my prayer that as Christmas approaches that we would make the connection of baby & hero, of love story & our role within it. It is my heart that we would accept our position as damsels in distress, to acknowledge that without him we are indeed in that hour of desperation, & that we would accept the precious offering of deliverance. If we have already embrace & opened that gift, my heart is that we would be reminded of this precious love, & that it would become new & real once again. Christmas is important because of Easter. The Hero, The Rescuer, The Savior began as a wee babe. My heartstrings are tugged...are yours?
Be Blessed!