True love trumps a romantic fling every time (standard:humor, 907 words)
Author: Godspenman	Added: Feb 10 2013	Views/Reads: 5059/1974	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
February is the month we celebrate romance. Actually, the only romantic things about me are my ''love handles,'' which is why I have spent so much energy developing them over the years. You think somebody would appreciate them.

February is the month we celebrate romance. Actually, the only romantic
things about me are my ''love handles,'' which is why I have spent so 
much energy developing them over the years. You think somebody would 
appreciate them. 

For some people, romance is an easy, if not natural thing. Others, like
me, find it complicated and elusive. It is not that men are less 
romantic than women are; they just have different ideas of romance. 

For most women, romance is flowers and candy in heart shaped boxes. 

For men it is a Big Mac with fries and a soda    and SUPER SIZE it,
please. 

Why are women so complicated and men so simple? I do not think that came
out the way I meant it. 

If it were not for women, romance would have died a long time ago. There
is nothing quite like springtime with a hint of romance in the air with 
a delicate dash of chivalry. 

People from Hollywood try to define romance for us, but their idea of
romance is raw sex and lurid lust. Hollywooders would not know romance 
if it nibbled on their ears. Romance is not a fling in the spring, but 
a lifelong relationship, experiencing all the ups and downs of life – 
together – and no growing apart! 

There is no picture quite as refreshing as a couple still together after
all those years of turmoil and temerity. The easiest thing in all the 
world is to fall in love for a few years and then, when it gets 
difficult, bale out. What kind of thing is that? 

Ah, but to see a couple married for 50 years or more; now that is the
epitome of real romance. 

I'll have you know that romance has not been a stranger at the
parsonage. I met my wife (actually, she wasn't my wife then) when I 
went away to Bible college in 1970. 

At the time, I was functionally romance challenged. Before I left home
for college, I prayed for a wife. I had the good sense to know that a 
minister needs a good wife to support him in the ministry. 

I prayed something like this, ''Father, I need a good wife and I don't
know how to go about it. Let the first single girl I meet at Bible 
college be the wife of Your choosing.'' 

Now, I know this is a crazy and dangerous prayer to make. Some would
take the high road of romance, but I took the low road of prayer. I may 
have been a bit desperate, but nobody could doubt my earnestness. I 
also figured that prayer was a lot cheaper than dating. After all, I am 
a Pennsylvania Dutchman. 

Nevertheless, I prayed for a wife. 

The day of my arrival on campus came and found me a bit anxious. I
remembered my prayer and wondered just how God would answer it. 

My parents took me to the college, which was some 500 miles from home;
good planning on my part the men's dorm, I figured I was safe. I 
planned to avoid all contact with the opposite sex as long as possible. 


But just as we pulled into the men's dorm parking lot, a young woman
exited from the men's dorm. Remembering my prayer, I immediately 
amended it. ''God, this doesn't count. I've not stepped out of the car 
yet.'' 

Have you ever noticed that God has a marvelous sense of humor? 

The young woman emerging from the men's dorm defied description. Do you
remember when women rolled their hair up in big rollers? Well, this 
young woman had rolled her hair up in tomato cans! Nothing prepared me 
for such a sight. She actually looked like some space alien. 



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