The Antelope in the Living Room: The Real Story of Two People Sharing One Life Read Online Free PDF Page A

Relationship.
    I was ready because God had brought me to a place where my security and worth were found in him. Perry didn’t complete me. He complemented me and made life more fun, but I didn’t have that same sense of desperation I’d had for so long. (Although there were still times I could fall back into old patterns. I don’t want you to get the impression I’d conquered it once and for all. Old habits die hard and all that.)
    I’m not one to offer advice, because that requires, you know, wisdom on a particular subject. And I was no poster child for how to really live a great single life. But here’s what I learned along the way.
    Someone can look great on paper; your friends may love him; he may have the best job, a cool car, and not wear jean shorts   —but that doesn’t mean he’s the one. (I really did have a list of qualities I wanted in a husband written out in one of my many journals and no jean shorts was number four on the list along with number six, must know how to dance . And number eight, he cannot have a mustache .)
    (So I essentially ruled out being married to Kid Rock.)
    And while all those shallow qualities I listed on paper are obviously essential to finding someone who is socially competent and well groomed, what you really need is someone you’d want next to you in battle, someone who can make you laugh even in the tough times, someone who will encourage you to be the best that you can be. Because, apparently, marriage is like being in the army.
    I think it can be easy to settle for less than you deserve just because less is right in front of you and the best may still be unseen. But I guarantee there are many women in marriages who are so lonely that they long for their single days when at least they had the hope of finding someone who would understand them, love them, and care for them.
    Looking back now, I can see that being single gives you the freedom to do whatever it is you want to do without having to answer to anyone else. If I could change anything, I wish I would have embraced it more instead of wishing it away. When it’s all said and done, it seems like a mere blip on the radar of life, and it’s hard to imagine a time when the most romantic thing in your day didn’t involve someone telling you they don’t mind eating leftover chili for the second night in a row. I’m not kidding. I adore a man who is willing to eat leftovers two nights in a row.
    And you know what I realize now? That we’re all waiting on something, no matter where we are in life. It’s the human condition. Being married and having kids is wonderful, but I guarantee that every person who is reading this has some secret desire in their heart that they would like to see fulfilled. I have so many things in my life to be thankful for, but there are other things that I dream about and hope for, and honestly, I don’t know if those things will ever come to pass or not.
    So I try to keep my eyes on the one who knows everything in my heart and trust that he knows what’s ultimately the best for me and will bring all things to pass in their time. He hasn’t let me down yet, because like it says in 1 Corinthians 2:9, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him” ( NLT ). He knows what’s best for me.
    He certainly did the day he brought Perry into my life. In all my wildest dreams, I couldn’t have imagined him because, honestly, he still surprises me almost daily.

CHAPTER 3
    White Lace and Promises and Cake
    I’ M GOING TO GO ahead and tell you the only reason I agreed to and was able to plan a wedding in three months was because Pinterest didn’t exist yet. For the love. What fresh scourge hath Pinterest wrought on our society?
    (I believe Shakespeare first said that.)
    (Actually, I said it. Right after I saw another pin of cupcakes made to look like melting snowmen.)
    I don’t know how a bride these days ever manages to wade through the