Painful dreams

I had an interview with the Children's Place today. It is a clothing store that I worked for in high school and for a year after high school. I would be working at the SouthPark Mall in Charlotte. I think I have the job. At this point, anything that brings in some money is ideal.

Meredith has two upcoming interviews with CVS at two different locations. She will be interviewing for a position in the pharmacy. Hopefully this will mean a lot of hours and decent pay. My job, however, won't be great pay, but it will be gas money and a phone bill payment at least.

Good things ahead as always.

Meredith and I were talking this week about a struggling marriage between two folks we know. As newlyweds, we don't want to think of anything like this happening to our own marriage, but we did try to think of some reasons why this marriage was struggling. I posited that it might be possible that men have chronic problem of wandering eyes and perhaps a fleeting conscience. Another thought came to my mind that I feel like is the source of many struggling relationships... a failure to cling to the end result. In the last entry, I wrote about living in the moment which I feel is very important. But, there must be a balance between living in the moment and seeking an optimal end result in your relationships with others. My relationship with Meredith is ongoing, so what is the end result? An ongoing committment fed by devotion to one another that is rooted in Christ's suffering and joy. But what about all the crap that most people have to go through in their relationships? Like, don't most people find that their greatest struggle lies with dealing with another person in some capacity?

Most people struggle with living with and serving others. As well we should. We are, afterall, a fallen people, right? We want what's best for number one, right? We must constantly self-correct, with the help of the Holy Spirit. We die to ourselves daily. We give ourselves over to those whom we love, much like Christ did for us. We empty ourselves of our wants, for the love of our brother and sister. When things look rough, when things look bleak, we identify with the suffering of Christ. Afterall, we remember that we must keep our eyes on the end result. In relationships like the one I share with Meredith, the end result is a lifetime of committment. We remember Christ in his suffering, and we share his joy, the joy of the resurrection, in good times and bad. Dreams worth going after are never easy. A child can't be born without the pain of labor. A marriage can't last without the pain (at times) of committment. A house can't be built without the pain of work and money spent. Every dream requires investment, and every investment requires a part or all of ourselves.

The dream is realized through suffering. Just like the resurrection is realized through the suffering of the cross. Clinging to the end result, as I mentioned earlier, is another way of "clinging to the resurrection power of Christ." Just another way that Christ's life is a model of humanity and the divine. Christ is before all things and in all things. This has a new meaning when we consider our incessent identification with him through suffering and joy. Take up your cross with a smile on your face. You only have one life to live and live it hard, with suffering and pain, and the ever enduring joy of the resurrection.

The Lord is truly risen!