And they lived happily ever after...

Yeah, life doesn't always end that way: Prince Charmings are few and far between; the damsel in distress packed her bags and moved to a condo to save on rent; if you kiss a frog, you just get slimy lips; but don't worry, there are plenty of villains out there!

As an English teacher, I obviously have a fondness for reading.  When I was about seven or eight, my father bought me a copy of Grimm's Fairy Tales.  We were in an airport, seeing my sister off and I insisted that he got me the overpriced airport memorabilia. He didn't mind. What parent doesn't want to indulge a child who loves to read?

As a child, my dad read to me regularly at night.  He would tuck me in. I would scoot over in the bed and make room for the giant of a man.  He'd turn on my carousel horse lamp and open the crisp pages of the newest adventure. I would sit in rapture as he read stories aloud to me. Then he'd kiss me good night, turn off the lamp, linger in the doorway and wait until I would doze off to dream of dragons and princesses. Those childhood bedtime stories are one of the main reasons I decided to become an English teacher.

Now, the pattern in all of these fairy tales was that they almost always ended happily ever after. As a child, you believe everything you hear. So, I enthusiastically embraced the idea of happy endings. As an adult, I have lost that blind and unbending childhood faith. Many times, I wish I still had it. Perhaps, that is what God meant when he said "unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."

As adults, we face hardships and heartbreaks and we stop believing in happy endings. But why should we? There is a happy ending for all of us, and it is an eternity in Heaven with the Lord our Father.

So, tonight as you go to sleep, imagine that your Father is tucking you into bed and telling you that life always ends happily ever after. Because for those who believe, there is always a happy ending.