Wait…. This is Real Life? (Honeymoon Phase)

This is amazing, this is incredible!  I love you guys!  Don’t worry about it, it doesn’t bother me!  I want to spend every moment with you!!!!!!  I need you to get away from me for a minute! 

Well, that escalated quickly!

What do you do when life gets real?  When everything turns from fairytales, and magic dust; to horror stories, and cold hard rain?  Now, I am being a little dramatic, and that is partially just to get my point across about how hard things seems IN THE MOMENT.  

In marriage there is this term that is used to describe the first few months.  You know what I’m talking about: that time where the person you are about to spend the rest of your life with is PERFECT!  Then you realize they are actually fairly human, and have some things they can work on.  This is referred to as the “honeymoon phase”.

I believe this is a part of almost everything in life: new job, new hobby, new friend, new girlfriend, newly being single again, every season has this moment.  Unfortunately, that time passes, and the honeymoon phase ceases to be.  That is where we are.  

In this blog I want to be very real with you, almost to the point I might get in trouble.  Enticing, isnt it!?  So here it is:

The honeymoon phase is GONE!  Its not coming back, and now this is real life.  This is what we signed up for, and it hits everyone differently.  Right now, its time to learn what needs to happen to overcome this season.  

Just to put you reader’s, parent’s and friend’s minds at rest let me say, this isnt that bad of a time.  Its actually still really good!  This is just the natural time when people start feeling the real emotions involved with being so close to people.  This is a good time!  It is a time of growth!  

Personal challenges always result in one of two things: failure, or growth.  So, how do we grow?

Firstly, we need to accept the new season we are in.  The honeymoon phase wasn’t meant to last forever.  If it was, it would, but its not.  Now that it is over it is time to accept the fact that it is over.  It is time to let yourself notice things that bother you, then bring it up.  If we don’t accept this truth then we will be ignoring a ticking time bomb.  Eventually you will explode!  We need to be aware of this to offer grace to each other.

I am so happy that people are in this place of acceptance, and eager to grow in this season! 

Next, we need to talk about it!  If someone has spinach in their teeth they will never know unless you lovingly bring it to their attention, and they will want to know!  Why?  So they can fix it, and present themselves the way they want to be seen!  So, where is the spinach in your habits?  Lets talk about it!  

Good news!  We are doing this!  In a really cool act of love people are taking time, and helping each other grow from a place of LOVE!  Let me tell you, it is beautiful!

I HAVE MORE GOOD NEWS!  This is like a good news train coming to the station so brace yourselves!

After we accept this season, and start letting others love us in challenging times we start REALLY trusting people!  This opens so many doors to get really deep into community!  This is a level of community built on trust that is rarely seen in America.  At home we always have our ‘best foot forward’, but now that we are seeing each other for real, we can let people into the places that we are afraid of.  

We can walk through those places together, and get REALLY deep relationships built on love, and trust!  

Through this… WE GROW!  We grow in community, and personally.  As the community grows, we trust it more, and as we trust it more we let it speak into us the truth that Jesus wants us to hear!  I know I said this before, but it is worth saying again, when it happens…

IT IS BEAUTIFUL!  

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So that is where we are!  The honeymoon phase is over, and we are turning the corner into what I believe will be a TON of love and growth!  The only question is, will we open up?  Will we accept it?  Only time will tell for sure, but I believe we will answer call.  After all, it is just Jesus trying to say that he loves us!