How Reading a Vampire Book Showed Me a Picture of the Holy Spirit - First Comes Brokenness...

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Bella begins to reconsider her desire to become a vampire during her honeymoon. Maybe not the whole idea, but certainly the timing. She’s enjoying her ‘human’ experiences with her new husband far too much to think about the suffering she knows accompanies the transformation from human to vampire. It’s much easier to be with her Perfect Lover than to even think about becoming like him.

Like any other anticipation of discomfort, if we can find ways to delay it, we will. But in times of smooth sailing, we rarely have the capacity to choose such a transformation, especially if it in any way involves pain. Therefore, we first must be broken.

That opportunity crops up pretty quickly for the newlyweds. Edward and Bella enjoy precious little bliss after their wedding and into the honeymoon before crisis strikes. The unthinkable occurs, something none of the Cullens and certainly not Bella ever believed possible. Bella finds out that she is pregnant with her husband’s – a.ka. Edward the Vampire’s - child.

I must take two short rabbit holes before continuing – sort of ‘on the record’ thoughts. First, at this point in the story, I was disappointed in Edward for the first time. I totally get his protective nature over Bella and the horrors of what this creature could do to his new beloved bride, however his lack of concern for the child’s life irritated me. I guess, however, since I have worked in a crisis pregnancy center and have seen first hand – this isn’t an altogether unheard of response from a baby’s daddy. Oh, and the movie version (Breaking Dawn part 1) during which Edward is yelling at Bella about it! Ha! Sorry, but that was a screenwriter oops if you ask me. No matter what Edward is feeling, he’d NEVER yell at Bella like that. Sure, he apologized, but, eh… I digress. What I must make clear is that this part of the analogous Edward has nothing whatsoever to do with our Perfect Lover Jesus. He’s always and every time for life no matter what you have to do to fight for it. He’s the one who put it there in the first place – He’s the life-giver. And He knows/sees the bigger picture, which in Bella’s case leads her down the path of becoming like her beloved.

Second rabbit trail, and on a similar note, Bella’s fierce defense of her unborn child is admirable. The overtones make for a decided and pointed pro-life message that is refreshing and needed in today’s culture.

Alrighty then, moving on!

For those of you who don’t know the story, discovering the pregnancy cuts the honeymoon short and they rush home so the whole family, and particularly Dr. Cullen, can determine what exactly Bella carries. Their concern is that if the child is more vampire, he or she would not have the willpower to be a ‘veggie’ vampire like the Cullens, and therefore be an uncontrollable monster instead of cute little half-breed baby. In deciding what should be done, the majority vote is to destroy ‘it’ as soon as possible because of the catastrophic ‘what if’s. Bella, along with her new advocate buddy Rosalie, ward off the well-intentioned (which now that they are home from the honeymoon also includes best friend/werewolf Jacob) with fierce determination, set on carrying the child to term.

Despite the fears of what he or she could become once born, the immediate problem is as superhuman as the child is in at least half of its DNA, the baby grows at an exponential rate that wrecks havoc on Bella’s mortal body. In short, it is (unintentionally) killing her from the inside out. Besides breaking Bella’s ribs with every turn, the baby also drains Bella of all and any nutrients, starving her. Mere weeks from the discovery, Bella has become a hollowed out shell, living purely on the purpose to ensure her child lives.

Far from the paradise she envisioned when she wed her Perfect Lover, Bella’s unyielding commitment to life ironically leaves her broken.

Do you know how she feels?

The Bible never ever tells us that accepting our Perfect Lover Jesus will result in a perfect life. First of all, what does ‘perfect life’ even mean? But that’s neither here nor there. The point is, the Bible actually tells us to expect troubles. Sounds like a raw deal when you put it that way, eh?

But what we forget sometimes is that in marrying our Perfect Lover Jesus, we’re set on the path to birth life. And just like a normal human pregnancy, pain precedes that birth. We don’t get the life without the pain.

How determined are we to hold on to the life our Perfect Lover Jesus offers? Even if it is just the promise, before we can hold anything in our hands?

Do well-intentioned nay-sayers sway your determination? Are you ready to give up over a few broken bones? Will starvation convince you to throw in the towel?

Or do we do what Bella did – focus so completely on the outcome of life – that we accept any suffering necessary to make it reality?

Even if it means our death?

Keep your eye on the prize, Dry Ground friends! See you Friday for more How Reading a Vampire Book Showed Me a Picture of the Holy Spirit!
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(photos by photobucket.com)

Weekend Tune Up - Anniversary!

Happy 16th Wedding Anniversary to my absolute BEST FRIEND and LOVE!!!

There are hundreds of songs I could dedicate to my Daniel today, but this just fits us. And it's from our marrying era (early 90s!), a great memory.

I love you, Daniel!

Have a great weekend, Dry Ground friends!

Benefits of the Betrothed

“I love weddings! Drinks all around!”

Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean, The Curse of the Black Pearl

Engagements are occasions to celebrate.

Once THE question is asked and answered (in the affirmative, of course), a new relationship begins – a betrothal. Love has been admitted, declared, accepted and reciprocated and sealed by a promise (and usually sparkly diamonds, too!) Even the vocabulary changes… he’s not just my boyfriend, he’s my fiancé. A sense of exclusivity leads to benefits claimed only by the betrothed and no one else. He looks at me when I walk into the room, he holds my hand, he sends me endearing notes with reminders of affection, he pays for my dinner, he spends his free time with me, he tells me his secrets… it’s the road to becoming unified. Experiencing all of the benefits of a relationship still waits for after the wedding, but the betrothal certainly kicks it up a notch.

In the same light, there are benefits to a relationship with Jesus during the betrothal, while we still live here on earth, before Heaven and our wedding. Discovering these benefits takes a lifetime of pursuit simply because so many exist! So many, in fact, that I struggled to determine which ones to highlight in such a short amount of space. I mean, the Bible is a love letter from the Lord outlining the benefits of agreeing to the conditions that betroth us to Him.

One of my favorite passages, which must be the favorite of lots of others since I’ve seen it on a few blogs lately (and I promise, I was already thinking about this before I read those), is Psalm 103 (click here to read all of it!).

Verse two states plainly, “forget not all His benefits” (NIV).

The NLV puts it this way, “may I never forget the good things he does for me.”

And just check out this list of good things:

ª forgiving all my sins,

ª healing all my diseases,

ª crowning me with love, tenderness and mercy,

ª filling my life with good things,

ª and renewing my youth.

I’d say that goes beyond good and hits the amazing mark!

Any relationship suffers, however, when one or the other begins taking advantage of the benefits – key word being taking.

One taker and one giver equal an unbalanced and unfair relationship.

Two takers equal a state of misery.

Two givers, though, and we’ve got the makings of a beautiful thing.

When we’re working on human relationships, we can employ such concepts with a fair amount of effort.

But since we don’t often think of Jesus as our Betrothed, we seldom stop and think how much we take advantage of such a giving God.

It’s not that we should try to make up for His unconditional love, His forgiveness, His mercy and grace… We can’t. And He doesn’t want us to. This isn’t an issue of guilt or getting to a place of deserving such benefits.

It’s an issue of gratitude. We cannot make the mistake of defining His benefits as entitlements.

To see Jesus as the Hero in our love story, we should treat Him, at the very least, the way we’d treat our own, personal Prince Charming.

Don’t you think that after the prince slid that glass slipper on Cinderella’s foot, took her out of the ashes, out of an unloving home away from the evil stepmother and sisters, that she’d do anything for him for the rest of her life? Wouldn’t gratitude rule her attitude, not guilt or pride or indifference… or the sense of entitlement?

Compared to Jesus, Prince Charming had it ridiculously easy. Yet his betrothed had reason enough to worship him.

How, then, could we consider Jesus in any lesser or dimmer light?

Maybe that’s why in Psalm 103, in addition to listing the benefits (for our benefit), we’re reminded to “forget not.”

Oh, if we only knew how much He loves us.