Ready at 19?

I drove and I drove and I listened to the words and I chewed my bottom lip and I thought.

"Live for the one I love, love as no-one has loved, give asking nothing in return."*

Over and over I turned the words in my mind.  Trees and clouds and yellow dashes passed by in a whirl of color and oblivion outside my windows, and still I thought.

"Live for the one I love."  Sure, it's an overstatement.  Probably not as much an overstatement as "Love as no-one has loved," but still, an overstatement all the same.

But...  There's truth there, no?

I ran a distracted hand through my hair and changed hands on the steering wheel.

In my mind, I saw the  lyric as a To-Do style list- the three commands posted as bullet points under the heading "How to Love."

HOW TO LOVE:

• Live for the one you love
• Love as no-one has loved
• Give asking nothing in return

I wondered what each bullet point meant- what does it look like to live for someone else?

Theological allusions from my strong Calvinist background immediately flashed into my mind.  As Christians we are called to live  our lives for Christ, which is supposed to be a reflection of the way He loved us enough to die for our sins on the cross- for if He died for us, can we not also live for Him, too?  So how we view marriage should be a similar interpretation of that.  Live for your mate, as you live for Christ, and as Christ lived for us, etc. 

I thought about each one distractedly..... until I focused on the last one.

"Give asking nothing in return."

I thought to myself...  Love with forgiveness.  Love with patience.  Love with understanding. Love with compassion. Distantly, I pondered what that might mean for someone like me.

"Give asking nothing in return." The second time, the words seemed to settle in much more.

And then my heart quickened. My throat constricted.  These words, standing on their own, floored me.

Deep down in the murkiest fibers of my being, I felt something stirring.

I realize now it was the desire to try.  

Being an overtly mature nineteen year old girl is extremely difficult.  Please understand I don't mean to sound arrogant or selfish in any way.  I think if you take the time to understand what I'm trying to say, you'll see I mean that with the deepest gravity and blaring insecurity I can muster.

A friend said to me in passing a few weeks ago, "You know how it is when you're nineteen- you're not thinking about marriage, or commitment- all you're thinking about is, hey, I like his smile and, oh my gosh, he's holding my hand!"

I smiled and nodded my head, but the words struck solidly into the center of my gut.

I realized suddenly I felt extremely uncomfortable with myself- I was uncomfortable with what I was discovering to be true about myself:  the fact that I'm the exact opposite of most nineteen year old girls.

Sure, those things are nice, but at the end of the day whenever I get lonely, I don't want to think about a cute someone with a great smile who is new and exciting. I don't want to gush with my girlfriends about "maybe he likes me" and "maybe this could be the real thing" and "maybe I'm falling in love,"or any other sort of maybe.  At the end of the day, when I'm lonely, I don't want maybe- I want familiar.  I want committed.  I want to be past the new and the rush and the headache and the butterflies. That's not what love is. I've been through that roller coaster more times than I can count- I hate the beginning. 

At the end of the day, I want someone to already know what I want before I do. I want someone who knows I can't function at table conversation well until I'm fed properly.  I want someone who knows that sometimes I really crave ice cream, and am willing to go to Dairy Queen in my pajamas to get it.  I don't want someone to go get the ice cream for me.  I want someone who is willing to ride shotgun while I go get it, and is okay with me probably stopping at a red box because this someone knows that watching movies is like therapy for me after a long day. 

I want someone who knows that tapioca pudding is what I always want when I'm sick, even though I make a point not to ask for it because I don't want to sound needy.

I want someone who accepts the fact that he doesn't understand the way I can't sit still when I'm thinking about writing. 

I want someone who will argue with me about petty things like Super Bowl Halftime Shows, and why people who don't understand the proper usage of grammar should all be sent to live in communes together away from the rest of society for the betterment of its function.  (No, I don't really believe that.  But that's what makes the argument petty, anyways, which are always the best kinds of arguments because they're not actually full of aggression.  Just stubbornness.)

When I'm sick, when I'm sad, when I'm lonely, when I'm tired, I don't want someone to fix me.

I just want someone to be there.  Day in and day out.

People these days seem to be afraid to see the same face beside them every day for the rest of their lives-

Are you kidding me?!

There's nothing I wouldn't give to be in that position right now.  Right here.   Even though I'm only nineteen.

What I really want, more than anything, though, is just to make someone happy.

Sure, some days suck, and I find myself thinking, "I could really use a man to make this all better."

But most days, it's not about what benefits I could reap from being in a relationship.

I don't want to be desired- I know what that feels like. A girl can see it in a boy's eyes, she can see it in their smile, and she can definitely feel it in the way they talk to her- she knows in the deepest center of her being when all they want is to conquer her. It's heartbreaking, and I've had enough of that.

I don't want someone to want me- I want someone to need me.

I just want to make someone happy,  you know?

I think I could be really good at that.  My whole life, I've been raised to take care of other people. I have been raised to be a wife, to be a mother.  To create a home, a haven, to build a life out of four walls and a kitchen...... You don't spend nineteen years of your life listening to every Celine Dion song on every album without learning a little something about giving all of yourself to make someone else happy.

I have all of these friends who are so strong and independent and who fight the good fight on the front lines for women and equality and feminine strength. I admire their passion, and then I shrink backwards into the shadows of co-dependency and I realize I am too old-fashioned to be a feminist. I love men too much to hate them. 

 I look around now and I see my mother- and I see her lifelong commitment to making my dad happy and I realize that that's what I'm craving. I want the chance to sacrifice things, to give all that I have, to dedicate my entire life to loving and nurturing and supporting and following someone I believe in.

I listen to my sisters talk about their families and I see the physical representations of how happy they make their husbands and I want that.  I want it so badly.

It's not simply that I want to be loved- because I am loved.  I feel loved.  By all of my family, by my girlfriends, by my boys- they all love me deeply and without cause.........  But I can't make them happy the way I could make you happy.

And that's what I want.   The chance to make you happy. The chance to give you everything and ask nothing in return.

So where are you? Who are you?

Sometimes I pray, and I ask God to send you messages somehow, through light and space and distance- I just pray that you get them.  I pray for your subtlety, and your compassion.  I pray for your love of laughter, and your mellowness.  I pray for your love of art, and culture, and of movies, and walking, and food.

I pray for your leadership and your love for Christ.  I pray for your calm, gentle way with children.  I pray for your passion, and your heart to be broken by the things which break Christ's heart, too.  I pray for your motivation, I pray for your aspiration.  I pray for your love of learning. I pray for your respect.  And, admittedly, I pray for your multidimensionality.  I pray for a little bit of a rebellious streak- and I pray for sarcasm.  That's right.  I pray for your sarcasm. 

I pray for your speedy arrival, although I don't think that's how God generally works in these areas.

I pray that you will love to travel.  I pray that you can teach me things- so many things.  I pray that you will be easily moved to forgiveness, for I am sure I will need it daily.  I pray for a deep appreciation of 80s music. I pray for your thoughtfulness- and your acceptance of people in all forms and mannerisms.

I pray for your fight.  I pray that whatever you do, you never, ever, ever, EVER give up until you accomplish your goals.

I pray that you will love dancing. I pray that you will learn the vital importance of putting others first before yourself. And I pray that you will understand the balance of protecting me without smothering me.

I could go on and on about the depths and heights and widths of my desire for co-dependency, for love, for marriage, for companionship, but I promise I will stop here.

I know God has a plan, and that this too, like everything else in life, will pass.

It's a struggle, everyday, to find contentment- no matter what it is you're fighting.

I just feel like I'm ready, that's all.

Of course the mere fact that I just said "I'm ready" probably means I'm nowhere near actually being ready.

Figures.

Either way, I'm thankful for the opportunity to pour my heartaches out to a loving and understanding God.  And I'm also thankful for a Holy Spirit who will intercede my prayers for me, when my groanings are too deep for words, and carry my heart straight to the Father. 

And sometimes,  just sometimes,  after a lot of tears and almost-pathetic sentiments are extracted from my lips, I look up at my ceiling with a half-smile on my face and I ask the Almighty,

"Can you please just find me somebody to love, already?"

And I think that sometimes, just sometimes, He looks down on me, and He laughs, and whispers, "Oh my darling, you have no idea what's coming, do you?"

*"Live For the One I Love" - Celine Dion