When time and space are through.

Yesturday I walked into the kitchen with my roommate Tori (or Toar for short). She and I are the most alike out of my roommates and I like to think of her as my little sister that I never got, no matter how many times i asked.

I've often been cynical and jaded about cheesy Christian love books, you know the type, Captivated, Wild at Heart, I Kissed Dating Goodbye...They just didn't do it for me. I was probably much to busy with my boyfriend(s) to put too much thought into them as well:) Before I came to Ptbo, I was told that my heart was encased in ice, surrounded by a brick wall. I told my roommates that yesterday and they could NOT believe that someone had told me that. Granted- that was definately the case when the person told me that- but something has cracked in me. I'm now a very very very deep feeler and often times, its incredibly annoying and sometimes embarrassing.

I will cry during prayer after a night at the Bridge because I feel so deeply for the youth. I will cry during baptisms. I will cry during Grey's Anatomy, I will cry when I read a powerful verse from a friend. I will cry when i watch World Vision. I will cry when I hear a beautiful song. I will cry when someone does something kind for someone else. I will SOB into my pillow with Steve on one side of me, Jenn on the other and Heather in front of me as i unwrap my christmas present from Steve and find that he's unknowingly painted my favorite photo of Sophie.

I used to only cry when i was really really really mad or when horses got hurt on movies.

So yesterday. I look at the kitchen table while Toar is making her lunch and scoff "hey Toar, look at this dumb book, i wonder who's reading it." i flick through the pages..."Wow toar! its highlighted like mad, i'm going to find you the best parts and raed them to you" and we both laugh at the prospect of this book having a 'good part' and i dig in. Almost immediately I find this story of a guy Rick, and a girl Christy.

The author touted it as the most romantic story he'd ever heard, so i decided to read it out loud to Tori.

Rick and Christy met when they were 14 at church and were good friends. Ricks liked Christy but it wasn't until they were 18 that Christy really fell for Rick. They wrote eachother hand written letters all the time and were falling in love.

Christy's dad took Rick aside one day and encouraged him to think rationally about the situation. Both Christy and Rick wanted to attend college, and were years away from marriage or beign ready for marriage. He challenged Rick to think of Christy and how best to serve her.

Rick met Christy and told her he could no longer see her. He loved her, but he was not ready to have a relationship with the end result of marriage and either was she. So instead of distract her from her relationship with Christ, her schooling, friends, family etc, he was letting her go. He asked for all the letters he'd ever written her and he took them.

That night he drove to Christy's late at night and burried all the letters (over 100 of them!) in christy's front yard. He had a funeral of sorts that night, for his love for Christy and his hopes for a future with him. He prayed that only God would unearth these feelings if and when the time was right. and then he left.

Fast forward a year and half and Christy calls home form college telling her mom she's still raelly struggling with feelings for Rick. She hadn't heard or seen from him since the night they broke up but still loved him. Her dad was impressed that he respected Christy and loved her enough to serve her that way and he called Rick up for coffee. He told Rick that he could rethink he's breakup with Christy, and that he should pray about starting a courtship. Rick prayed, and told her dad that the Lord told him to wait.

So Rick waited, and a few months later him and Christy started along distance courtship with the goal in mind, of marriage. Christmas day of their last years in college, Rick went to Christy's house with her present. It was a red tag for a maple tree. Christy and Rick and her family went to the front lawn for her to plant it. As she drove the shovel into the ground, she hit the box of letters that Rick had sealed and planted 3 years previous.

Christy took the box, opened it, and realized that the 100 love letters they had written back and forth were in the box with one unopened letter on top. She ripped the letter open and read it. 3 yaers previous, when Rick was 18, he wrote a letter to christy, asking for her hand in marriage when the time was right. The time was right and rick got on his knee and asked Cchristy to marry him.

Me and Toar sat at the table crying over the beauty of this story. And from noon yesterday I've not let go of this book and I've been giving it a fair and honest read. No judgments. And its beautiful. Its a beautiful model of how relationship between a man and woman should be, and CAN be. How when you're LOOKING for a mate, you could find many potentials, but when your LOOKING for Christ you don't even need to worry about it. And thats awesome!

Anyway- my friend Lana, who i met in uganda in 06, came to visit me yesturday with her 2 month old baby zoe! it was an awesome short time of catch up and we live so close to eachother which is awesome