Why I'm glad Unicorn Bones Were Found this Week

So CNN reported this week that unicorn bones were recently discovered in Siberia. Journals of applied sciences and Snopes weighed in, and yep, legit news reporting has confirmed that the mythical creatures I've dreamed about since youth used to roam the earth for real. Except they were nothing like my dreams or screen printed book bag from sixth grade. The fossils show that they had the single horn, as their name suggests, but instead of being of stallion stature aglow in rainbows and fairy dust, they were rhino-like woolly mammoths who hung out in Kazakhstan. Well, that's disappointing.

I spy a metaphor for life in this story. Sometimes we dream about a magical job, stage of life, or place to live. We spend lots of time imagining what it would be like there. We'll love it! Sure, it won't be perfect, because we're mature people not looking for a Fairy Tale, but it will be wonderful and we'll be so happy. But then we get there and find scenarios which never showed up in our daydreams. We did not authorize any of these adversaries and plot twists or cliff hanger moments. Our story was supposed to be shiny and light. We knew it wouldn't be spotless, but we never thought it would be so hard and humbling. And yet, these surprise elements are precisely what make up the best stories.

My life hasn't looked a lot like the fable I'd dreamed it would be. Things didn't happen in the time-frame I'd plotted out and I've had to say goodbye to key characters far earlier than I wanted to. Yet I am more fulfilled and joyful than I ever imagined I'd be. Real life, it turns out, trumps Fairy Tales all day long. When there's no script to follow, the unpredictable, messy and challenging parts come and the good stuff happens...the parts I don't want to miss. Not necessarily easy parts with rainbows and glitter, but meaningful moments where I'm refined to become the person I really want to be. It's in these seasons wisdom is gained, perspective is sharpened, and sweet times are birthed. Precious, deep, and wonderful times where I think my imperfect heart might explode from the love within it for the imperfect people I call mine. I was never aiming for perfect, after all. 

I want my story to be about triumph, strength, spiritual growth, and glory to the author of my life. These elements are only found in tales where things don't go as planned and obstacles emerge. I'm learning to welcome the times when my little script is no longer relevant so I can remember Whose story this really is. I've found Him to be such a gracious playwright who never leaves me alone in my struggle, ensures my victory, and loves me without end. 

So with this I raise my glass to the one-horned woolly mammoth! He isn't likely to grace the front of many coffee cups or t-shirts, but he's alright by me.