On the Wings of Love

Well, the drama is over. Jake has chosen his baby and we can all claim our Monday nights back for ourselves. That is until May comes and we all watch as Ali picks her baby. (If you don’t understand why I am choosing to use the term “baby” please do yourself a favor and stay confused. No use in explaining the awkwardness that was that line last night.)

I want to start out by saying that every season; I continue to be sucked into the drama that is The Bachelor. Or The Bachelorette. Whatever ABC decides to air that season, I anxiously await all the drama to unfold all the while asking myself why I continue to watch it.

Yes, I’ve only missed one season, so please know that I’m just as involved like most of you.

I’m not sure why I continue to be sucked into the saga; because most seasons, I’m disappointed by the outcome or how they choose to live their life after the show is over.

But last night I was not only convicted of my thinking, I was also floored.

I’m not going to lie; I didn’t want all the internet rumors to be true about Jake’s final pick. Let’s just say I’m not Vienna’s biggest fan. And yes, I’ve had my fair share of rude remarks toward her. Just putting that out there.

But I am truly floored at the way she is being treated and talked about.

The truth is, what we see is what we get. I don’t know why we think that protesting his decision will make anything different. It never has and it never will. There may have been a few red flags in the process for sure, but yet again, as I watched her home date with his parents, I caught myself asking for forgiveness as well, just like his family did. We don’t know the girl from Adam, so to judge her and say nasty things about her is flat wrong.

I realize I may step on one or twenty toes here, but when I logged on facebook and twitter last night real quick after all was said and done, I was shocked at all the nasty things I read. It was kind of upsetting.

Who are we, as believers, to voice our opinion on whether or not homedude made the wrong decision? And not just voice our opinion, but absolutely slam the girl he chose. He’s a 32 year old man whom I’m confident can make his own decisions with or without our help.

I’m not pointing any fingers. In fact, I’m placing myself right smack dab in the middle of this category. I had a few choice comments myself.

I also saw a few people upset that they declared they’d be moving in together immediately. I’m not sure why this was so shocking or upsetting, because we can’t expect non-believers to act like believers. There’s no need to put that expectation on them.

Newsflash, this show has never been and will never be about Christ-centered dating. I have to remind myself of that a lot because most days, I live in my own Christian bubble.

It’s clear that Jake is a decent man that loves and respects Vienna. It’s clear that he wants to provide for her. It’s clear that he wants to take care of her. It’s clear that he enjoys her company.

To be completely honest, without judging either one of their motives, I find that refreshing.

So much unnecessary attention is going to come from the controversy that is Jake & Vienna, when the reality is that if you look around there are marriages falling apart all over the place because…

The husband is cheating on the wife. Or vice versa.

The husband doesn’t feel respected, or the woman doesn’t feel loved.

The husband can’t provide financially for his wife’s needs, so she moves on.

There is abuse in the home.

The wife feels more connected emotionally to another man, so she leaves her man for that.

And countless other reasons.

I’m not going to pretend to know one thing about marriage. Stink, I’m not going to pretend to know one thing about dating.

I say we all move on. Their relationship is not going to end the entire world, nor will it end the long running dramatic television series.

There are more things to get upset about than one simple man who chose one simple woman.

I don’t know what will happen in their relationship. I know that if Christ is not the center it’s harder to manage. We’re all human. We all fail. But for a moment can we just rejoice in the fact that a man loves his woman and wants to treat her well? Don’t we need a little of that?

This doesn’t mean I won’t be watching another season. I can almost guarantee that I will be on my couch, Dove Chocolate in hand, counseling the TV on whether or not any of those men are worth going for.

But hear this, I will not get emotionally involved or rip them apart. It’s TV, for goodness sake.

I’ll use it more-so as a tool for how not to date.

And if you think that’s messed up, and that I have some messed up thinking for even watching it again, then I apologize. I’m human.

On that note, I’m off my soapbox.

If you care to find me, I’ll be soaring on the wings of love.