My youngest was spending quality time in his room recently after making some, let’s say poor choices. When he gets in trouble he often tries extra hard to be nice to Mommy and Daddy. On this occasion he decided to draw us each a picture of something we liked.
He drew his Daddy a picture representing the Cleveland Indians baseball team. For me, he drew a picture of a Hallmark movie. Specifically a wedding because he equated it to love, and that’s “what those movies are about.” I did not see that one coming. It’s true, I love a good Hallmark movie. I don’t care who knows it. I don’t care that my children and my husband make fun of me for enjoying them. I totally own up to that guilty pleasure.
In fact, I may start writing scripts and pitching to them any day now. I’ve got a couple, including a Christmas one, pretty fully developed and swimming around in the mushy parts of my brain. It does seem that people either love them or love to hate them. They’re easy targets I suppose. There’s not much depth to them.
Here’s what I keep telling my husband, I don’t care. I’m sorry. Were you expecting a stronger point here? I’m kidding. Of course I have a point but humor me for a second. Here’s why I like them: they’re pretty, they’re safe, they’re predicable, they make me happy, and they remind me that love is a big deal. I don’t just mean romantic love. I mean there’s real strength in love in all of its forms.
Now I have to be careful not to put too much stock in them. I mean watching too many of them could easily lead me to believe that bakeries, quaint inns, bookstores, and coffee shops can thrive in small towns awash in the crisp air and rich colors of perpetual autumn. Or I might start to think that Christmas snow stays sparkling white and heavy sweaters are never too warm around a lodge’s cozy fire.
They play on our desire for happiness and our dreams of reality living up to the images we have created in our minds. For a minute we believe there’s only one or two hurdles on the way to a picture perfect ending, that all men love to layer sweaters and puffer vests or that our hair and makeup should always be that on point. It’s good that I don’t watch them all the time or it might start to make life feel like a real let down.
It’s already hard enough. We live in a fallen world and rarely does anything work out like a Hallmark movie. One of my favorite Bible versus is Romans 8:18 which says, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” I kept that versus posted up where I could see it for years. Suffering always comes but it is just an earthly hurdle that will one day be no more. Heaven’s glory is coming.
Faith, hope and love remain and the greatest of these is love. That’s why it’s good fodder for movies. Love is where the magic is. To be unconditionally loved for who we are is what the heart desires. Oh how thankful I am that Jesus does just that. I don’t have to be stranded by a blizzard in small town at Christmas to find it. Jesus willingly offers it to all of us right in the middle of our non-perfect lives. Right after loving God with all of our heart, soul and mind, Jesus said that loving our neighbor (that includes everyone) as ourselves is our priority. Now that’s love worth investing in.
