Young Love Letters – Part 21

The spring semester was filled with anticipation and emotion. After surviving the hurdles of our first semester together and figuring out our relationship with the realities of day-to-day life and the pressures of school, we were more sure than ever of our future life together. With that surety, the level of physical attraction increased, as did the need to keep that in check now that we had daily contact.

We realized that physical attraction is a shiny thread, and one that can quickly dull. We knew that a relationship bound together with just that thin thread of physical attraction would never be able to withstand the test of time. We had seen time and time again that relationships held together by just physical attraction burst at the seams when the first bit of pressure was applied.  We continued to work instead on lacing our relationship together with the thick cords of unconditional love, respect, trust and honesty.

At times, one of the cords would fray as life wore on us, but the others would hold us together until we were able to repair the damage that we had inflicted. Relationships worth fighting for take work, and we were willing to do whatever it took to make our relationship stronger. Part of that work meant letting that gleaming thread of physical attraction stay in our peripheral vision the best we could and not focus on that God-given desire for each other until the time was right – which in our book meant marriage. We still had yet to kiss, and and at some point, I expressed my desire to wait until we were absolutely certain we would get married, whether that meant having our parents verbal approval or a ring on my finger. I knew I was asking a lot, but I feared that if we started liplocking too soon that shiny thread would blind me and I’d fall over the edge. Ked’s response was one of respect, and a bit of humor.

Hmmm…am I willing to save my first kiss for my fiance? Yeah, I think so. Now, you’re gong to have to understand one thing though. If, and when, Lord willing things progress to that point, it WON’T be just any kiss. You do understand that I hope. Because by that time (years!) I think I’ll be a little more than ready. So, this is just so you know!

And so we continued to wait and turned our focus on other things.

That semester we started juggling together on the campus lawn and signed up to perform at the annual Spring Splash, a carnival for the community sponsored by the student government. Ked helped me with my juggling and proved how agile he was as he literally caught everything I threw at him. Howard the Bear even made an appearance at the Spring Splash. For me, it was the first I realized the reach of his family’s ministry when after the program, a woman came up to us and asked Kedron if he was Sheldon’s son. She had been a summer missionary with their ministry one year while she was in high school.

Spring Splash was the first time we performed together, and we loved it. We began to scheme how we could do it more often. But first, we’d have to survive the long summer apart.