The plunge...

I feel it is time to bring everyone up to speed with the gritty details of my life. Not annoying gritty like the leftover polish in one's teeth after the dentist, but the joyful kind like finding beach sand from the summer in the creases of one's duffel bag during the winter.
Anyway, the easiest way to get this done is to just say it. The beginning is a good place to start. Anders, Bo, and I have been best friends for some now. August 2006 will mark the 7th anniversary of our meeting. The last four and a half years have brought more amorous feelings for Anders from me but I was able to mask them from him anyway until about 2 1/2 years ago when he started reciprocating them. God did a lot of work in me those two years I was alone in my feelings. LOTS!!! Like getting it through my head that He and He alone will ever complete and fulfill me. I had to be His first and foremost before He would allow "a man in my life." A few days before Anders left for Texas for a year we were finally able to express what had been growing between us the last 14 months or so. Then he left. We agreed that a year was a long time for people to be apart and so we would see what God would do. I'm still amazed at what He did do! Honor Academy rules dictate that any relationship between the genders would be strictly platonic, so I spent Anders' three visits home pretending that I didn't love him and he was afraid of being dismissed so he kind of kept me at arm's length. It was really hard and confusing and stressful and I gained and lost the same three pounds over and over again. The only thing that I could really cling to was knowing that God was in charge and that whatever He brought to pass would be very good. What a lesson in trust!
Fast-forward to September 8, 2005. Anders and I had our first "talk" since he left. We shared some things that God had shown us and just kind of talked things out. Neither of us felt lead to commit to a romance at the time so we decided to set our acknowledged feelings for each other aside for a time and take another dose of platonic tonic. Get to know each other again. Keep building our friendship. Find out where and how God had grown us. What we didn't know was that the expiration date on the tonic was only four months away. We had prayed that God would give us the love for each other that He wanted us to have. We completely and repeatedly surrendered "us" to Him and begged that He would do His work uninhibited by our human efforts. He has surprised us, friends! Surprised us with what He had done in each other's lives, with the growth and maturity we saw, and with the love He has blessed us with.
December 10, 2005 at the Bean Tree (a charming coffee shop), after serious consultations with parents and mentors, Anders and I decided to "kick our relationship out of neutral" and move slowly but deliberately into courtship to see if God has marriage in mind for us. There are still many patches of heavy fog that we can't see through right now, but we are committed to glorifying God with all that we do. Our relationship is to reflect our relationship with God as His church. We are dedicated to fighting for physical, mental, and spiritual purity and helping each other out in that fight. It is rough. It is beautiful. It is something I wouldn't trade for the world on a silver platter. We are at peace and filled with a joyful excitement over what is ahead. Rejoice with us, friends, and please keep us in your prayers.