Let me tell you a story, He said

She was a caged animal, desperate for escape. It was only a matter of time before she exploded. Did he really hold the key to the cage she was in or could she let herself out? She wondered. How did it get like this? What happened to the kind man she once knew? What happened to their love that seemed to sustain them and bring so much joy? The love that had produced their beautiful daughter? The love she knew would conquer the world?... Sucked into a nameless void she supposed. That was yesterday, a whole other reality, one she dearly missed and desperately wanted to get back to.

But she was here, today. In this reality. More like Hell. His unkindness felt like a dagger plunged straight into her heart that left her dark soul longing for some light, a light she had begun to doubt. Yet, deep down, she knew if she ever expected to see that light again, if she wanted love, if she really, really wanted freedom, she had to accept today. And she just couldn't do it. How? How could she? The man before her was someone she no longer recognized. He no longer held a special place in her heart. He was a stranger and worse yet, a monster. How had she not seen it before? How had he managed to keep it hidden for so long? She mourned the sweetness of yesterday and cursed the bitterness of today. What beauty was there to hold onto? If today was all there is, how could she find anything in it to inspire hope? Laying in her cage, full of despair, she began to fall asleep and she heard a voice...

Ah but acceptance is not about holding onto anything is it? It doesn't mean that you like the situation you find yourself to be in does it? Acceptance means not holding onto yesterday, not longing for it, or trying to resurrect it, not fighting what is. One doesn't walk along a path that becomes rocky and then curse it's rockiness or try to turn back. No. And neither should you. Stand your ground. The path has many ups and downs, twists and turns, but you lose your power to move forward by longing for smoother ground. The path stretches out before you for infinite miles and the power to move forward begins with acceptance. Accept your choices, accept your shortcomings, accept where you are now and know that you can always choose again. You didn't really lose love, it's just concealed for a little while so you may look at your life with other senses, senses that you will need further down the path. You don't walk alone, you never have. I, the Great Lover of your soul, walk beside you and when you come to know and trust in this great love, you will mourn no longer for the one you believe you have lost. You will just see that he was stumbling along his own path as well, looking for my hand just like you. Come now, let's see about this cage...

She woke up startled. What was that? For certain she didn't know but what she came to realize was that the cage she found herself to be in was self imposed! No one held the key to it but her. She could go on crying about the unfairness of her current situation and stay stuck there or she could summon up all her energies to throw herself full scale into the arms of this Great Lover of her soul and see where that would lead. As far as she could determine, these were the only two choices she had and no matter how elusive the second one seemed, it was the best bet. She knew it in her heart and it gave her the peace and strength she needed to carry on...

"And it shall be in that day," says the Lord, "that you will call me 'My Husband,' and no longer call me 'My Master'"... "I will betroth you to Me forever; Yes I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and justice, in lovingkindness and mercy; I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness, And you shall know the Lord." Hosea 2:16,19-20