Sticking Around.

Seth and I went to the zoo on Memorial Day. It was a date of sorts to honor the fact that we will celebrate two years of dating on June 9th. Of course, our busy schedules do not allow us to go out that day (because I am That Girl and he is That Camp Pastor), so since I had been asking for him to take me, he obliged so kindly and was a really, REALLY good sport.


Two years. Two of the most interesting and challenging and best years of my life so far.

Two years I wouldn't trade for all the gold and bulldog puppies and cheesecake in the world.




Many of you have followed my journey of losing my mom and figuring out God's love and the character of Christ through that season. I have to tell you that despite the ups and downs of any normal relationship and added stress of our unique situations, Seth has been Jesus to me in a crucial way.

He stuck around.


We started dating in June, and things got really bad in early October, including her first extended hospital stay. Keep in mind that my temper was short, my list of grievances was long, and my hair was generally without any volume. I didn't wear makeup, I had big red, swollen puffy eyes and I did the ugly cry a whole lot.

He stuck around.

After she died, I freaked out a little. I was insecure and hurting, and my lack of confidence was a real strain on our relationship. Even after a million times of asking him why he loved me and suggesting maybe he should just get a girlfriend who had more volume in her hair and less issues in her life,

He stuck around.

I wanted desperately to know that there was still a safe place for me to land. I couldn't be Happygirl all the time anymore. Just didn't have it in me. Sometimes I needed that same affirmation that my mama gave me...she pretty much had to love me unconditionally :D
I had a home where I could feel safe to rant and rave and eat an extra piece of chocolate cake and wear my grungy old sweatpants. When she was gone, I felt like that was gone too, both in my relationship with God and with other people.

Because he stuck around, I saw Jesus sticking around too. You see, Seth was Christ's hands and feet to me as I stumbled through whatever that less-than-enjoyable period in my life was. I felt like I still had a safe place to land--both with Jesus, who never left me, and with this man who chose to stick around even during that unpleasant season of grief when everything I am was just a little off-kilter.

I could get mad and cry and be a little stinker or wear my grungy sweatpants to visit him because I felt sure of the fact that none of those things would scare him away. That's how he reminds me of Jesus.

Someday, when Christ renews the face of the Earth, then I really will be Home. Until then, he has given me a treasure and a foretaste of the feast come in being accepted by someone just as I am.

We've had our moments, but I love that guy because he sticks around (and I am still not exactly sure why sometimes!).

I have been blessed to travel the world and see the sights and smell the smells and touch pieces of foreign soil. I love that about my life. Partly because it makes me more grateful for the fact that Jesus loves me
and
he has blessed me with someone else who thinks my many and varied quirks are charming to him too. Boy am I glad he sticks around!