"It's a Love Story, Baby Just Say Yes"

Taylor Swift's single "Love Story" has sold over 8 million copies since its release in 2008, which is likely due to how easy it is to relate to the song. The song outlines a typical love story that many young girls and women (like myself!) dream we can find. The song was released during my freshman year of high school, which was when I began my quest to find this love. A few Taylor Swift albums and several break ups later, I finally realized I was doing it wrong and was making it harder for myself to find that love. When I listened to the magazines and the rest of pop culture, my search for real and authentic love got harder, and the weight of that stress got heavier, like the size of a HORSE (likely too late foreshadowing). Like this:

Clearly, he misinterpreted what they meant by take the horse. Likewise, society often misinterprets what love is. Love is often depicted as something based on feelings and emotional highs. While feelings are great and all, they are temporary. Who wants a love story to end with "and they all lived happily for two weeks"? "Yeah! I want this, this is what I have always dreamed of!" SAID NO ONE EVER. We want a love story that ends with "they all lived happily ever after", and one that will last forever. We want someone to love us through good and bad, which is not based on feelings, but on choice. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church dictates, "Love is the free, self-giving of the heart" (CCC 2346). That is true love. That is the love we want to find. For a long time, I bought into the false promises society makes about love. Not too long ago, however, I heard an amazing homily about real love. The homily was about how God is the true love story. This was a really weird experience for me because my music book that day had a drawing of a thumb's up that said "Yes!", which I had noticed during the opening song. At that point, I found it a bit weird, but when the priest began the homily about God being the true love story, it got even weirder. It was such an odd thing, that out of all the music books in the church I could have gotten that day, I had the one with the "Yes!" drawn in it while the priest talked about the true love story. It was so weird, but mind-blowing and awesome at the same time. I realized that day that in order to get that love story that Taylor Swift sings about, I needed to say yes to the true and original love story. God is the ultimate expert on love because He is love. It mentions this right in the Bible in 1 John 4:8 'The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love". When we say yes to God, we say yes to the true and original love story that God created for us. When we say yes, we are able to love as He has called us to. In John 13:34, Jesus calls us to "love one another as I have loved you". So how do we do this? We will never be able to love the way He loves us, but I found two handy dandy parallels that will help us love like He calls us!
Parallel Numero Uno:
God: Loved us before we were even conceived.

Us: Love your spouse before their identity is revealed to you. We can pray for our future spouse! We may have met them already, or we may not have. Pray for them before you know them! We all need prayers and grace, and I just get so excited thinking about my future spouse! I find it amazing that he could be out there somewhere still, or that I may have already met him, but our hearts just haven't realized this calling yet. So exciting!

Parallel Numero Dos
God: "[Love] bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails" 1 Corinthians 13: 7-8

Us: God's love never gives up on us, no matter how dark things may seem! Likewise, we should never give up on neither of the love stories. If you feel as if you are starting to lose hope in finding your future spouse, write them a letter! I have found that when I write him a letter, my future spouse seems more real to me, and it gives me hope. I am actually saving all of my letters for him to read when we get married. I am so excited! If you feel doubt about the true and original love story, open up your Bible. Pray. Look at the cross, and remember how much He loves us. He loves us so much that He died for our sins! Listen to this song, it will help you remember that (it always helps me!)

The true and original love story is the most beautiful love story of all time (WAY better than Twilight). When we say yes to the true love story, we are then able to love in a more powerful and sincere way.
"Don't be afraid...It's a love story, baby just say yes"

Happy loving!
Your Sister In Christ
Dani