Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.  I John 3:2

Yesterday Miranda’s post was entitled, “My Fairytale Marriage.”  I would be the other half in that story book romance, and in our fairytale marriage I’m defiantly the frog.  You see the frog is, on the outside, kind of green and slimy.  He may even have warts and if you aren’t careful his warts might rub off on you.  The frog lives in a pond, not a castle…and he likes it.  He spends his days hopping from pad to pad visiting his other frog friends.  Occasionally he and a couple of his male frog friends will wait for an unaware passerby to stroll by their pond and then will croak out, “Bud”, “Wise”, “Er” and laugh hysterically…female frogs never get this.

As much fun as this sounds, being a frog living in a pond on your own pad isn’t the future a frog fantasizes for.  No indeed, because the frog knows, on the inside, he is really a prince.  He might not look like it, he might not act like it, he may not even sound like it, but deep in his heart he knows he is meant for more than formaldehyde or the deep fryer.  No, if only he could find the right girl, who could look beyond his sliminess and warts and see his true heart, then his inner prince would be released!  He could then swoop the fair maiden off her feet, carry–not hop–her into the castle and live happily ever after…sounds a little silly doesn’t it.

Well, the above story isn’t that far off the mark.  I believe God created the institution of marriage both for our joy and pleasure AND to teach us about Himself.  I know God has used my marriage with Miranda to teach me about grace.  You see, most days I do feel like a frog.  Some days my warts show more than others and on occasions my sliminess seems to seep through even if I don’t want it to.  But time and again Miranda has, in those times, not seen me as a frog but her prince.  Perhaps a prince in need of a 2X4 delivered in love to the side of his head, but still her prince.  And I can tell you not a day goes by that I don’t think of Miranda as the princess God blessed me with.  I don’t know if that’s living with rose-colored glasses or not, but I do believe it’s living in love.

Now, so you don’t think I wrote all this just because of what Miranda wrote yesterday, here is what this has done for me spiritually.  For the first time in my life I looked at my relationship with God as a marriage.  I know there are many of you who had this epiphany long ago but some of us take longer to learn.  Everyday now I wake up and relate my relationship to God as a marriage.  Oh I know I had been told before that Jesus is the groom and we, the church, are his bride.  But I’m a simple fellow.  I need things spelled out in concrete ways, illustrated in real life terms.  That’s one of the gifts Miranda has given me.  I am beginning to believe that God doesn’t see me as a frog.  He knows my warts and sliminess–always has–and still sees me as a prince.  I really don’t know what to do with that except stand in humble awe.  It makes me want to be, everyday, the prince God sees me as.  And when Miranda grants me the daily grace and love that I know she receives from God, it ignites the inner prince and makes me want to be the Brett God created me to be.

So for everyone who is as slow a learner as I am, let me assure you that we all are, without a doubt and deemed so by His word, princes and princesses of God’s.  Don’t ever let Satan make you feel like a frog.

Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.  Romans 8:17