My heart breaks for this crazy, busy, fake-cinnamon roll world.
Watching people swirl past me, leading busy careers and busy social lives that have absolutely no eternal imprint on the world they will soon leave.
I was reading an article one day about how to help someone who is in a tough place (because couldn't we all use a little more encouragement for our tough places?), and I stumbled across this sentence that left my jaw hanging:
You. have. to. move. on.
Um, what?
What happened to loving people in their dark times? Being there when they need us?
Is it just me, or do you think there's more to that abstract thing called love then this article is letting on?
I mean I can understand where this writer is coming from... Without Jesus centered in your worldview, why wouldn't you just walk away when you deem that "too much time has passed" and you're ready to be done with this relationship?
Why wouldn't you.
To me, it's almost like walking away halfway through the cinnamon roll process.
Cinnamon rolls take too long, in my opinion. I'll do all the steps, but I'm inwardly always a little miffed that something so small that is eaten SO QUICKLY takes literally hours upon hours!
Patience is a virtue, you say? Humph. Haven't heard that one before.
But everyone knows that even though cinnamon rolls are a major time sink, they. are. worth. every. minute.
Every minute you spent kneading and rolling and spreading with butter and sneaking bites of the dough and pretending not to look as you dump cup upon cup of white sugar in-
it all culminates to yield rows of little gooey cinnamon monsters.
And then you bake them and have to wait another forty minutes while the aroma fills your house and has all the boys coming to your backyard.
Because everyone also knows that milkshakes aren't the trick; it's cinnamon rolls :D
Beautiful things come when you're willing to wait, and I think the person who wrote that article is missing the most crucial part to any relationship:
Unconditional love that says "I will wait for you. I will stay with you. I will never stop encouraging you, and I will always love my guts out for you because you are worth it to me. I won't move on, even if it takes years."
This love doesn't have an expiration date. It doesn't hit that "certain point where I can't do anymore" because really, we shouldn't be the ones doing. That's the master baker's job. He is the one making the cinnamon rolls, taking his sweet sweet time and producing a masterpiece in our hurting, struggling friends that we would never have witnessed if we'd simply walked away, picked up the can of ten minute cinnamon rolls.
"And the life I now live in the flesh Ilive by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." -Galatians 2:20
Ain't nobody gonna tell me that this love is cheap, or easy. God calls us to a lifestyle where we "do not weary of doing good" because He gives us the strength to wait with our friends. To love our friends. To be there for them when the world says it's taking too long.
I will be forever thankful that Jesus didn't have the same mindset. Nothing is too long for him- he CREATED time, for goodness' sakes!!
Y'all, it'll be so worth it. Maybe you will never see the effects of your love until heaven. But I have a feeling that when you get there, you and your friend can sit down and share a warm, gooey cinnamon roll together.
13 comments
this was a beautiful post, chloe <3 really good use of cinnamon rolls. i guess i never really thought about it in that way before, but it's so true. plus, i'm so with on cinnamon rolls. they are worth the wait. for SURE.
ReplyDelete*so with you on
DeleteI absolutely LOVE this analogy! I love cinnamon rolls so so much. So it works <3
ReplyDeleteEverything in this post is so true. I think everyone needs to hear this!
Your comparison of patience with cinnamon rolls is great, Chloe! I have to disagree with the letting go part like you did, because like what in the world: you're supposed to love someone and if you do truly love someone why would you let them go?
ReplyDeletexoxo Morning
Oh my goodness, Chloe. Posts like this are the reason that your blog is one of my absolute favorites. I LOVE THIS ANALOGY SO MUCH!!!!! I'm pretty sure that I've read the article that you referenced above, and I had basically the same reaction as you, minus the awesome-analogy thing. I can't understand how someone would think that it's totally fine to just walk away on a person when things get difficult, when you can't seem to get through to them. The whole notion of that is so crazy to me. Then again, I'm a horribly stubborn person, stubborn to a fault almost. I'm pretty sure that some of my friends have probably wished at points that I WOULD give up on them!!!!
ReplyDelete"And then you bake them and have to wait another forty minutes while the aroma fills your house and has all the boys coming to your backyard." <-- Oh my gosh, that sentence. I. Died. I was basically sitting here cracking up in front of my laptop. My family is probably concerned.
Also, can I just say- making cinnamon rolls is soooooooooooo hard!! Cooking and I don't mix.
Awesome post, Chloe!!!!!! :):):)
xoxo
Grace Anne <3
I love this! So true. Love is more than just a passing thing. If we want to be there for people then we have to be there all the time. And if they don't want us around, we have to wait for them to open to us. It takes awhile sometimes. but if they're ready to open up after we've left than we really missed out on something.
ReplyDeleteLove is doing the hard things.
It's waiting for cinnamon rolls. ;)
This is absolutely, stunningly beautiful *wipes away tears*
ReplyDeleteYour analogy is PERFECT and the message is too precious for words <3<3
I love how you compared cinnamon rolls to this! I completely agree with you!
ReplyDeleteThis is a beautiful post.
-Jollygirl
http://reflectionsofajollygirl.blogspot.com
AMEN SISTER. I really love this post. Our culture today is very centered on self-growth and personal happiness. There is a quote circulating around the internet about respecting yourself so much that you walk away from anything that does not grow you, serve you, or make you happy. I feel like that attitude is short sighted and rather selfish. I have relationships with people who care for me so much. I have relationships with people where I mostly care for them. The Lord never gave up on people. He is living inside of me, so neither can I. I am so grateful for that! If the Lord didn't have AMAZING PATIENCE then I'd be sunk. God, my parents, my friends, and many others have been so patient with me, to hold me in the hard times even though being my friend wasn't helping them at all. I am so thankful for their patience and persistence with me. If they had decided not to support me when I was going through a hard time and couldn't carry them or make them happy, where would I be today?
ReplyDeleteOh, this is a really lovely post. And while I do agree, at the same time, I don't. While I don't think this is the intention of your post, I'm going to have to side with the article here, from personal experience -- there really does come a time when a person is very set in their ways and not doing anything to step up and help themselves and dragging you/whoever else down with them, and in that case there are times when you need to let go and step away because it's not helping anyone. Which is tough, but true. And doesn't mean you have to stop loving them. :)
ReplyDeleteNow I'm hungry. And no, not just for delicious homemade cinnamon rolls, but for this love of Christ that changes every relationship we have. Thank you for reminding me the importance of perseverance in love!
ReplyDeleteGreat post! Loving people like Christ loved them can be so hard, but it's our job as Christians. "We love because He first loved us."
ReplyDeleteP.S. Your analogy makes me hungry!
Your analogy is simply too beautiful to not appreciate.
ReplyDeleteHowever I agree that you need to move on with your own life if someone refuses to get help or take medicines for their depression. You have to understand that everything that we do is a choice. A choice means it is completely our responsibility and decision. You can only ever take a horse to a lake, but you cannot make it drink the water. You can help and help the depressed person, but whether to make a conscious effort to get out of depression or not is still that person's choice.
I will still say you can stand by them and hold their hand. You do not have to leave their side even if it comes to the point where you cannot do anything other than just that.
You can be their friend, their lover. You love them through their dark days, but you must not forget to live yourself too. You must remember that just like they have a life of their own that they choose to live, so do you.
You live your life, you do not stop caring, but you just let the other person make the choices. You cannot force your choices on someone.
You cannot MAKE them get help or medications. The ultimate decision is up to them. You can wipe their tears but you cannot stop them from crying. And you do not have to stop loving them.
I am sorry if my view offended you. I understand your point completely, I am just trying to throw a different light on the issue.
Love xo
Saee
Wonderland
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