Premise #2 - Quest for Adventure

Today I'm revisiting the second premise of John and Stasi Eldredge's Captivating:Unveiling the Mystery of a Woman's Soul: all women desire to play an irreplaceable role in a great adventure. Now again, I'll agree that it sounds rather like a fairy-tale, but upon examining my life and the stories I love, I again find evidence of this desire in day-to-day living.

Confession: I am a huge fan of "chick-flicks." But not just the mushy ones. I want the stories where the heroine plays a vital role in the plot that no one else could have played. I'll even pick on a couple of my favorites. When Lucy rescues Peter from the tracks of the on-coming train in While You Were Sleeping, she was the only person available to save him (if you don't count the guys who mugged and shoved him onto the tracks in the first place). Her life was never the same again as a result of that moment. Not only did she find love and companionship in Jack, but she had opportunity to see a dream fulfilled by visiting Florence, Italy. And in Beauty and the Beast, lonely Belle, in spite of her initial fears, defends and fights for the beast against the angry mob. Because she found companionship, trustworthiness, and love, she also became the only one who could precipitate his change from beast to man.

Both heroines were (1) needed; (2) willing to take risks; (3) bold in the face of danger, though vulnerable to attack; (4) conscientious of the relationships involved; and (5) desirous of a new hope and fulfillment. Every woman wants these things for her life. We want to be needed by others; we are willing to take risks and be bold, knowing all the while how vulnerable our hearts really are; we are acutely aware of the health of the relationships around us; and we all have hopes and dreams we desire to see fulfilled.

Women need the reminder from those we love that we are indeed irreplaceable, that no one else can be to the people in our lives what we can be to them. That what we have to offer is of value. But every woman also wants to know that the hum-drum of life doesn't have to be "enough." Why else would we want to start businesses, swim the English Channel, go to school, travel to other parts of the world, or, yes, take tap dance lessons? Those are our "adventures," great or small.

So what adventure is God calling me to today? What role does he need for me to play that no one else can do just like I can? Will I say with Mary, "I am [your] servant, and I am willing to accept whatever [you] want. May everything you have said come true." (Luke 1:38)?

God, help me to believe with assurance that I am uniquely designed by you to touch lives and accomplish your purposes, and that to fulfill these roles will be the adventure of a lifetime.