Dari buku yang gw beli dengan harga 40 ribu tiga, gw ternyata mendapatkan buku-buku keren (that I believe sent for me in perfectly way, through flea market, hehehehe),
Karena lagi termenung memikirkan idealisme kriteria seorang suami yang tak kunjung datang (heheheeh), daripada ntar akhirnya gw merasakan setumpuk rasa yang gak jelas maka gw memutuskan untuk melanjutkan membaca buku yang judulnya ‘authentic beauty’, buku yang dikarang oleh Leslie ludy. Buku yang diperuntukkan gadis-gadis, yang impian masa kecilnya tanpa sadar tidak pernah mati, impian untuk menemukan seorang pria yang mencintai dia dengan sepenuh hati, seorang pince charming.
(But some girls afraid to hope, because they have been hurt so much in her life. They have so many disappointments; they don’t think they can face the pain of another one. Therefore, they refuse to hope so they won’t be disappointed.)
Setelah gw baca beberapa halaman, gw akhirnya berdiri dari tempat tidur sangking semangatnya dan make a little dance…
So here is her story about finding her prince..
***

He was someone I had known for years. He had been a close family friend. He had many appealing qualities, but I had never thought about him in romantic way. It was true that he had a sensitive and tender side that had seen on a few occasions. But he was extremely passionate about truth, and I felt that sometimes he came across a little too strong on certain points. To be honest, he intimidated me. It also seemed that he was a little too involved with “church stuff”. When I thought of him, I was reminded of Sunday school lessons with flannel bible story characters or gold offering plate-this was not exactly the atmosphere for true love!
He was one of those people with a piercing gaze that can see straight into the depths of your soul. Because of this, I had gone out of my way to avoid him for the past few years. For some time now my life had been a chaotic mess of compromise and confusion. I didn’t want him to see what I had become. If he found out what I had done. I was sure he would sternly reprimand me and remind me that it was too late for me to ever discover anything more. But I soon realized I was very, very wrong about him
I found him waiting for me by the apple trees near my back gate one day as I headed out for a morning walk. I was startled to see him there, surprised that after all years and all the times I had ignored him, he still wanted to spend time with me. I gave him tentative glance, and he smiled at me-a tender, intimate smile that made my heart lurch in spite of itself. I quickly looked away.
“Can I walk with you?” he asked in a gently voice. I nodded, still avoiding his gaze, and he fell into step beside me. We made our way in silence for a while, listening to the occasional chatter of a squirrel or high-pitched chirp of a robin. I kept my eyes on the gravel path at my feet.
“I missed you,” he told me simply. Though it was obvious to both of us that I was the one who had put the distance between us, there was no hint of accusation in his tone. I bit my lip and nodded again, unsure what to say in response.
We walked a little farther, and I realized hi presence was both refreshing and comforting. I could feel his tender eyes watching me, silently telling me how important I was to him, though I could not figure out why. Nothing else was said during the rest of our time together that day, but I sensed that something more was about to happen between us. I just wasn’t sure if I was ready.
Our friendship slowly grew. The more time I spent time with him, the more I realized how utterly different he was from any man I had ever encountered. In him, there were none of the sex-hungry glances I had received from the guys at school, not a trace of the flirtatious teasing hat had always surrounded me, and not a strain of the seductive charms I had grown so accustomed to in men. But somehow I knew that he loved me. That he deeply desired me. That he found the one man that could be my prince, I was sure I had found him too late.
“This is completely crazy,” I told myself aloud one night as I tossed and turned in bed. “He wouldn’t want someone like”. I was convinced that his love for me would shrivel up in a second if he truly understood how many mistakes I had made. I didn’t think I colud risk becoming attached to him. I had been hurt so many times that I didn’t know that much more pin my heart could handle.
I had another worry. He didn’t live his life the way anyone else did. He stood out like a neon billboard on a lonely desert highway. He was mocked and misunderstood by quite a few people in my life. I knew he would not fit into my world, would not accepted by my friends, and would not be t home in most of my surroundings. How could I possibly love someone like this? What did he expect me to do-walk away from everything just to be with him?
I wrestled with my fears for weeks. He never pressured me to make a decision. He simply reminded me, in a hundred different ways, that he loved me and that he longed for me. He was infinitely patient, tender, and sensitive …. The kind of prince I had dreamed of for as I could remember. He made the immature romantic wanna-bes that had historically gained my affection seem like pitiful counterfeits. After seeing the real thing, I couldn’t believe I had fallen for such poor substitutes. But at the same time, I couldn’t help wondering whether or not he might just too good to be true.
The more time I spent around him, the more something inside me desperately wanted to just surrender and fall into his waiting rms. But I was afraid to let myself trust him. I was afraid of what that decision might cost me.
Over time, gradually, like the moving of the hour hand, my guard came down. No matter how many times I pulled way from him, his love remained unmoving, like a majestic, unwavering mountain overlooking a tumultuous ocean. I had even tried to convince him that I was not good enough for him. I’d told him in detail, with hot tears flashing in my tormented eyes, exactly what I had done in with my life, heart, and body over the past years. But I sensed that instead of judging me, he was inwardly weeping over every piece of my shattered heart. Coming face-to-face with this kind of infinite kindness left me stunned.
One morning, as I was sitting alone on a bench in the crisp spring air, I felt him softly approach me. He didn’t have to speak. I took a long look into the unfathomable depths of love in his eyes, and I melted. With tears coursing down my face like a cascading waterfall, I fell into his arms and told him passionately that my heart belonged to no one but him. At that moment, my life, my pursuits, my friends, everything I had built my world around, faded away into nothingness. None of it seemed even remotely important anymore. Nothing mattered now but him.
As I whispered my devotion to him, a brilliant peace crept steadily into my heart and began to quietly mend its broken pieces. His eyes were wet with tears unspeakable joy. I felt like an eagle gliding freely along the majestic mountain peaks following the afternoon storm. I had finally found my prince
…..
…..
I have heard that statement countless times from young women. When they observe my relationship with Eric (my adorable husband) or hear about the romance of our love story, it strikes them as so unusual that they begin to wonder if another man like him can ever be found.
Yes, Eric and I did have an amazing love story. However, my love story with Eric is only a small reflection of a much deeper intimacy that I share with someone else… the Prince I wrote earlier. The One who was waiting for me that morning by the apple trees when I out for a walk. The one I finally surrendered to on that unforgettable spring morning a few months later. The one who passionately loved me, tenderly held me, and deeply cherished me in a way I had never before experienced, in a way that fulfilled all my childhood longings and desires. The One, who rescued me from the dingy prison cell I had wandered into, cut the iron chains away from my feet and hands, tenderly washed me clean from life of sin, transformed me into His princess, and carried me away into the sunset to His land.
My true Prince is not Eric. My true Prince is Jesus Christ
