Once, there was a young girl who loved the Lord very much. She didn't know Him very well yet, but she loved what she knew, and she experienced His beauty in her purity and innocence.
When she was 4, she longed to be able to receive the Eucharist as her mother did at daily Mass. She thought that 2nd grade would never come; it seemed so far away.
But come it did: the happiest day of her young life. It was around this time that the girl began to think about a special union with the Lord. She loved to be with Him so much! She prayed about becoming a nun; maybe that was what He wanted her to do. Saint Therese, her special patron, had entered the convent at a very young age; perhaps she could do the same. Therese was 15... 15 seemed so, so far away! Again, how ever could she wait?
In 5th grade, though, her focus changed a bit when a very special boy transferred into her class. She loved everything about him, and she thought of nothing else for several years. 15 came and went without giving the convent so much as a thought.
High school was not much different. She bounced her affections from one boy to another, never receiving any in return. One boy would become her whole world until another came along that seemed better to her. She was always searching but never finding.
Then there was that one guy... He was so attentive, so kind. Desperate to be loved after years of deprivation, she gave in. She let him have her.
The wounds inflicted upon the girl's heart during the few months they were together would take years and years to heal.
"Lord," she said through her suffering, "I need to be loved the right way. I will never heal until someone really loves me fully. This wrong must be set right in my heart. Send me someone to love me as You meant me to be loved."
And the Lord stood up in all of his splendor and gentleness and said, "Well... here I AM."
And the girl fell in love.
This is a beautiful story.
ReplyDelete