The Notebook

The Notebook is a 2004 film directed by Nick Cassavetes, which is based on a 1996 novel written by Nicholas Sparks.  The plot bears only a loose resemblance to the Runaway Bride's situation, but because the film has come up several times in discussion, I have decided to address the two plot points that do have something in common with KatieLyn's saga of love lost (or tossed).

The story is told in flashbacks by an elderly man in a nursing home as he reminisces about the days when he returned from WWII and restored an antebellum mansion.  His audience is an equally elderly woman who fades in and out of dementia, a plot device that sets up a surprise-twist climax to the novel, but is not relevant to our discussion here.

The few points that do match are these: (1) A young man fell deeply in love, and the mother of the young lady did not like him.  (2) The mother went so far as to seize control of and block all communication between the man and her daughter. 

"The Notebook" refers to the letters that the hero had faithfully written to the young lady, but which she never saw  because they were intercepted and deviously kept from her by her mother.

This is what we do not know— does this part of the story match too?  Joe has sent KatieLyn several letters, cards, and gifts.  He can follow the tracking numbers and has proof that they were delivered to her home. But she has not responded, not even to tell him in person that she does not want to be pursued further; and since she was most probably at work when they arrived, it is certainly within the realities of the codependency with her mother that she does not know he sent them. None of us would put it past Gwen to open KatieLyn's mail. She has already admitted that she read KatieLyn's email.

Even though the novel has a suitably sappy ending, the fact remains that the most productive years of their adult lives were squandered by the interventions of a mother who walked by sight, not by faith; who regarded money and prestige more than the happiness of her daughter; and who, although she convinced herself that she was "doing the right thing," did not love the truth.

It is very dangerous to not love the truth.  In the end, this no-love-of-truth is what will do men in.

They perish because they did not accept the love of the truth in order to be saved.
For this reason God sends them a strong delusion so that they will believe what is false, so that all will be condemned—those who did not believe the truth but enjoyed unrighteousness. 
2 Thessalonians 2:10-12

I feel like I was put in a catch-22 when it came to quoting that verse.  I could have edited it a bit to focus on only the parts I need to highlight, or I could quote it in its entirety, (which I did,) but then be at risk of the reader whining that this is a "salvation only" scripture that pertains to eternal life. Well, no, the refusal to love the truth applies to all of life; it is not limited to the question of where one chooses to spend eternity. 

Verse 10 says that it is the failure to receive the love of the truth that allows a person to be tricked!
Here it is in the King James Version: 

And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.

"Deceivableness!" What a word! My spell-checker is having fits, but the meaning becomes clear.  At the end of the age, people will be deceived by the antichrist because they refused the love of the truth that would have saved them. KatieLyn became 'deceivable' because she did not receive the love of the God's truth for her. She was deceived into accepting her mother's version of a "truth" instead. Failure to love what God had revealed to her allowed her to be tricked by her own mom! 

The Lesson
In the end, the outcome does not depend on whether or not KatieLyn knows about "the notebook" items that Joe has sent in an effort to open communication. It would be easier for her to make good decisions if she did know, but if she doesn't love the truth enough to even allow herself to hear it, then Satan can freely supply other advisers in her life who will make sure that she stays deluded.

It is quite possible to have "selective delusions." That is, it is quite possible to be right about one thing and be simultaneously wrong about another. Spiritual principles do not change with chance or impulse. Not loving the truth is a sure way to deception. KatieLyn may love the Lord's truth of salvation enough to be saved by faith, but she did not value His truth for a husband enough to cultivate her faith in marriage. She allowed others to come and rob the joy of her faith. She will remain deceived until she decides to love truth.