Love and Vampires (and werewolves)

I've been thinking a lot about love lately (as was evidenced in my last post). The BFF and I were talking about our longings of love the other day and she said "I think I'm longing again." I laughed and said that I don't think I ever stop longing, I just hide it beneath other things. Because it is obviously something that I desire and something that I want in my life. But it's also something I'm willing to wait for and I have faith that God will provide when he knows it is right.

All of that aside, the BFF just wrote an amazing blog about Female Porn. Which is also something I've been thinking a lot about lately.

The girls in my youth group have been bugging me to read the Twilight series for like ever and so I caved and started reading them. And let me tell you, they suck you in. Big time. When I was telling a friend about them (a guy friend), he informed me that what I was reading was "soft core porn for women." I was shocked! No it wasn't! But then I continued reading and it hit me like a ton of bricks. That's exactly what it was!

I finished the final book last Sunday afternoon (after a morning of telling my girls "NO SPOILERS NO SPOILERS!!) right before LTC practice. So by the time I got to LTC practice, it was all fresh in my mind. And I was pretty livid with the way that the books portray love.

First I want to explain that I absolutely fell in love with the story, but that doesn't mean that the story can't make me angry or frustrate me. So even loving the story and the characters (particularly a certain werewolf) doesn't mean that I can't be furious with the way things are going so far in the story.

That being said, I had a classroom full of very dramatic and lovely junior high girls who were all wailing "OOOOHHHHH EEEEEEEEDDDDDWAAAARD" every five minutes while I was defending my sweet Jacob and how him and Bella should be together. Finally, because I'm a youth minister and I recognize a good teaching moment I stopped them all. And explained something to them.

I explained that the reason I hated that Bella was with Edward was because she was constantly saying in the third book she couldn't live without him. Which is a flat out LIE. She DID live without him. The entire second book is HER LIVING WITHOUT EDWARD. And you know what!? Life went on. She found happiness even. If she'd been given more time, she would have been fine. I'm sure of it. It might take her a while to heal, but she would have lived.

And then I looked at my girls and said "there is not a SINGLE person on this earth that you cannot live without."

They looked at me solemnly. I know they probably thought I was nuts. I didn't care. I was on my soapbox and I wasn't going to get off for anything.

"Who is the only person you CANNOT live without?" I asked.

Silence. They all knew the answer I was looking for. None of them wanted to admit to it though. Finally, my sweet Ashley Barker piped up, "Jesus?" she said.

"YES!" I continued on that everyone on this earth is going to disappoint you. You're going to be hurt by you best friend, your crush, your boyfriend, your parents, your teachers, your ministers, your husbands, your children... but God is constant. God will ALWAYS be faithful. He will keep you from harm and though you might not agree with the things he does in your life, he sees the big picture. He wants only the best things for you.

I just hate that these books, as good as they are, are putting unrealistic images of love in my girl's heads. I just hate anything that spouts someone talking about not being able to live without this certain person. Because the only one that I can't live without is the Lord. Which can be hard to come to terms with sometimes because I do want a fairy tale romance with someone who is as passionately in love with me as I am with him, but I have to be realistic and realize that as much as it would hurt, I could live without him. I couldn't live without Jesus. I have to live FOR him. And not for anyone else.