DTR...

Day 6 Part One...

"So, there's something I've been wanting to talk to you about..." I immediately got nervous. I just knew he was going to say, "You're a really great friend, I just want to make sure there's no misunderstanding here. You understand we're just friends right?" Of course. I mean I set the rule...no dating. It was my own fault for not keeping my feelings in check. Shame on me for reading into things.

Instead I heard, "I've been praying a lot lately. I've really enjoyed hanging out with you and getting to know you. I don't know if you feel the same way, but I'd really like to date you with the intention of seeing if we are meant for each other." I think at that point the shock wore off and I said something profound like, "I agree." And then he said more, "I know you've been pursuing God as a single, so I was just concerned that a relationship would cloud that. I want to make sure that we are putting God first as we are seeking HIS will for us."

Us. U-S. US. I went from a single, with a chip on her shoulder regarding relationships, to 'us'. I spent a full-year before meeting Brent telling God my plans and spelling out for HIM what I would or wouldn't do. I spent more time building a wall, thinking I was doing what HE wanted me to do. Over the course of a couple of months, HE tore down my wall brick by brick by establishing an unlikely friendship and growing it into the beginnings of a courtship.

We spent the better part of an hour establishing boundaries for our new relationship. First up, physical boundaries. We made a decision to not kiss until engagement. We didn't see anything wrong with kissing per se, we just wanted to make sure that a physical relationship didn't interfere with the importance of getting to know one another as potential spouses. We also didn't want to dive into that kind of temptation. Once you go too far it's hard to go back. We felt like if we removed the temptation all together there was no guilt interfering with our courtship. We wanted to honor God first and foremost. It goes back to the verse in Song of Solomon, we didn't want to awaken desires for intimacy that were meant for the marriage relationship. If God's desire was not for us to marry, we didn't want to take anything away from our future spouses.
Second, we decided since we were dating in pursuit of marriage, we would be exclusive.
We also discussed what our relationship would look like since we would be long distance once returning to our respective universities in the fall. We decided this would actually be a great test at growing our relationship.

With those things in mind we prayed together before parting for the evening...

To be continued...