Five Minute Friday ~ Real

Do you ever feel swept away by unexpected "real-ness" where you least expected to find it?

I was recently watching a movie... and the story took an out of the blue twist from the traditional Hollywood protocols and values... and I was enchanted.

Especially when one of the characters said the following about marriage:

"We need a witness to our lives.  There's a billion people on the planet, what does any one life really mean? But in a marriage, you're promising to care about everything.  The good things, the bad things, the terrible things, the mundane things, all of it, all of the time, every day.  You're saying 'Your life will not go unnoticed because I will notice it.  Your life will not go unwitnessed because I will be your witness. ' " *

Isn't the real, nitty gritty of the marriage relationship rather eloquently expressed in those words? Real doesn't usually come all dressed up and fancy, but in patched and faded jeans and a threadbare flannel. It isn't distinguished; therefore we often overlook it.

So often, all I want to know is that I matter to someone else... that I am noticed and would be missed if I was suddenly no longer around. I know I matter to God... but it tends to remain a theoretical knowledge... until it becomes real.

Then I tangibly feel His hug through the the very real and sheltering arms of my husband, hear His concern in an email from afar, smell His service in the scent of fresh-baked-by-my-brand-new-nine-year-old-bread, taste His generosity through a meal provided by new friends and watch His delight sparkle in the eyes of my little and not so little ones.

*(Susan Sarandon's character in the movie "Shall We Dance.")