When you fall in love...

There are things you don't think about when you fall in love with the wrong person.

You don't think about the danger.

You don't think about the chances of them hurting you.

You don't think about what'll happen if the whole thing crashes to the ground and you can't do anything but watch your greatest dreams crumble like an avalanche.

You don't think about the fights, and you forget about the pain, because when you fall in love, no loss can outweigh that gain.

It's all butterflies and heart eyes and racing hearts and suddenly you're not so smart, because when you fall in love, all common sense goes out the window like a bird let out of its cage.

Flaws don't matter, because your love is the most beautiful thing you've ever seen. They're the greatest thing since sliced bread, but when you fall in love, you forget that even the best made bread can get stale.

When you fall in love, no one can convince you it's bad news. The whole world outside of this love gets hazy and it's not until you realize you're going crazy that you start to think maybe your friends were on to something.

Rose-colored glasses put it all in a great light, but the great light covers up the warning signs. The lines from where you are to where you will be safe get lost even though you'll eventually wish they had stood out.

When those rose-colored glasses come off, you'll start to wonder how they were ever on to begin with. You'll be stuck wishing you could turn back time, and as the heartbreak rattles in your rib cage like a prisoner in a cell, you won't see the benefits of the lessons you've learned.

When you fall in love, you think it will last forever, and when you get your heart broken, you can't imagine that burning ache in your chest ever going away.

You don't think about the possibility of things changing when you least expect them to, but the truth is that even the people you think you know best can surprise you. And when they do, it's hard to imagine that knife working its way through your chest will ever leave you. It feels like the only things that leave are the good feelings and the hopes for a future that doesn't end with you sitting on the couch with a pint of Ben & Jerry's wondering where it all fell to pieces.

When you fall in love, it's easy to think that this might be your happily ever after. You hear their laughter and think "I could listen to this for the rest of my life." You don't think about what you'll do if you're wrong and the good days come to an end. You don't think about what will happen if you break instead of just bend or how you'll pick yourself back up when life has to go on and people have other things to do besides help you.

When you fall in love, you don't think about what could go wrong.

You think about the feeling you get when you lay in their arms and talk all night long and how their touch makes everything seem okay even when it's not.

You think about how their eyes shine like fireworks and how just mentioning their name makes you feel like you're smiling all the way down to your soul.

You think about how their smile lights up your whole life and makes you believe that no amount of strife could ruin that giddy feeling you get in your belly when you look at them.

And for every time you're left behind to pick up the pieces of your shattered heart, you get more and more afraid and wonder if love could ever last.

But then, you find that one person who fights for you like you fight for them. That one person who sees you and loves you enough to accept you but also loves you enough to not leave you as you are. You grow to be better together than you ever were apart.

Eventually, you realize that all the mistakes you made and all the heartbreak you felt led you right where you were supposed to be. There, with them, the person you choose to love and who chooses to love you, even when it's ugly and messy and hard. And that promise for future you is enough for present you not to give up and hide away.

Jesus promises that you don't always know what's happening at the moment, but later you will understand. Your life to the fullest doesn't always look like you think it should, but have faith that he'll lead you to love far better than you can imagine.

Hold on, child. It will all make sense one day.