Beyond 'Happily Ever After'

Danielle: You, sir, are supposed to be charming.

Prince Henry: And we, princess, are supposed to live happily ever after.
Danielle: Says who?
Prince Henry: You know, I don't know!
*
Grande Dame: My great-great-grandmother's portrait hung in the university up until the Revolution. By then, the truth of their romance had been reduced to a simple fairy tale. And, while Cinderella and her prince did live happily ever after, the point, gentlemen, is that they lived.

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I love the way that - in a world that idolises fairy tales and 'happily ever after' - 'Ever After' ends with such an up-beat line:

"Cinderella and her prince did live happily ever after, the point, gentlemen, is that they lived."

Although it would be nice (very nice!) to live 'happily ever after', I don't really think it's a viable option in life. God didn't create me and put me on earth in order to live 'happily ever after'. Every little (or not-so-little) bump and bruise is an opportunity to grow and to change - for better or for worse. When I allow the bumps and bruises to be used for good in my life - by God, who has allowed them and will use them for good - I truly 'live'. Then I get beyond 'happily ever after' and step into all that God has waiting for me ...

And one day, of course, I will live 'happily ever after' - when I see my Creator and Saviour face-to-face and embark on eternity with Him ... it won't get much better than that, but until then the most important thing is that I 'live'!