Faithful as a Fangirl

Sometime I worry that I'll never be able to care for REAL people the way I obsess over characters. 

Then I remember staying up until 2 am on the last day of school to finish special gifts for my friends (miniature paintings) and favorite teacher (memory book with letters of appreciation collected from classmates). 

I remember when both of my sisterly role models entered serious relationships within days of each other. I prayed for them every night for months.

 "Please, don't let him break her heart." 

Yes. I obsess over fictional characters. 

I cried shamelessly when Amy and Rory left the Doctor. I teared up in the Vincent VanGough episode. It bugs me that Arther never appreciates Merlin for how loyal he is, and how he doesn't even know the half of it. I wrote full pages examining the relationships between NUMB3RS characters to fill pages for my Sophomore English Journal... from memory. I have a tendancy to yell at The screen:

"I WILL LOVE YOU!!!!!"

 "NOOOO!!!"

"Just give him a hug!!!!" Everybody needs a hug sometimes... and TV characters never get them enough.

"Just SAY IT!!!"

*pteredactyl squeal* 

*groan*

"GAHHHRR!"

"Awwww..."

"Take it back, TAKE IT BACK!!!"

Etc, etc

These characters composed by some distant author/screenwriter's hand and brought to life by gifted actors don't replace what I feel for the real people in my life. I love a little differently. 

I love people. I love them sort of like a fictional character, but more. 

I'm faithful as a fangirl. I listen, and I remember. I watch, and I learn. I follow their lives like a plot-line. Supporting in whatever way I can. I'm attached, involved, and opinionated. It's nice to talk to people, and more effective than yelling at the Tv screen. Calm on the surface... dying inside. I'm frequently taken over by "the feels." I root for relationships and feel the double- blow of a break-up. I'm the relationship professional... in a strictly observational capacity. 

Strange as it is, it makes sense for me to love this way. 

After all, isn't God like a director or screenwriter? He is the architect of our future and author of our characters. He is more "vested in" our individual story lines than we can possibly realize. But it helps to know that every bump in the road -every plot twist that weighs on our hearts- strengthens our characters and gives us the chance to become worthy of the happiest of endings he can write.