One day, the little girl met a boy blindly at Cracker Barrel. Little did the little girl know that her life, would be forever changed by this lunch date. The little girl was to meet a boy dressed in khakis, button down shirt, and he would have glasses. This is how the boy described himself. The little girl knew this could describe about any boy that may walk in the doors of Cracker Barrel, with exception of some boys who look rather elderly. The little girl with her brown, chin length hair, pink shirt and khakis, waited impatiently for the moment of truth. The little girl had never met someone for a blind date before. She had talked to the boy on the phone and he seemed harmless. In walked a boy, just as he described and their eyes instantly connected and they both knew immediately. They were who they were meeting on that warm November day. The blind date turned into a meeting of hearts.

The boy seemed to be up for the challenge of dating this little firecracker girl, who would argue just for the sake of not always agreeing with him, to compete in every athletic sport they ventured out into, even if the little girl had never played the sport. The little girl’s motto was “whatever you can do, I can do better”. The little girl had spunk and the boy had confidence that the little girl had never seen before. He was so confident, it was like he was never wrong. He infuriated the little girl. She just once wanted to prove him wrong. They were quite the pair. One thing the two had in common was they loved each other despite their stubborness.

The little girl found love… love she never thought she would find. The boy is the one she still runs to, the only one she dreams of, the one who holds the key to her heart. The boy isn’t perfect, but they are perfect together. The boy accepted her and has loved her. This boy was worth the wait. He was worth it all. The little girl could never imagine what kind of adventure they would have, but she knew he was worth it. The boy, was simple. He had a way about him that complimented her need to feel important. And the little girl pushed a safe boundary inside of the boy, that had kept him from taking chances in life. The little girl had an edge of risk taking inside of her, fearless of consequences, took no account of risk. The boy was full of keeping track of “what -ifs”, missed out on the life of risk taking. The little girl’s whole life had been one big risk taking adventure. So this boy and this girl, loved madly, cared deeply, and became united as one in marriage.

This boy and the little girl found something in the other that would complete them. Two hearts joined as one to begin the adventure of marriage and all that it would entail. Many people weren’t sure if they would make it. But through it all they pressed forward because through it all the boy had her heart, he was the only one she belonged to, he was the one the little girl ran too. The boy and the little girl learned to hold onto each other and reflect on on how far they had come. They  had built a life together. They had endured one surprise pregnancy after another, the death of their infant son, financial stress, juggling raising kids with little support of family, along with family drama from the outside. The little girl still quite broken inside, but pressing forward with this boy to raise their kids. This boy may be her biggest challenge all while being her biggest fan. He pushes her, inspires her, tests her patience, yet is there waiting for her when life is overtaking her. He is the forever boyfriend. The boy is who taught her to love, the boy is who she trusts, the boy is whom she still loves. The boy accepted her “as is”, a work in progress. And the little girl is a work in progress, she is a little girl still fighting her way through life, trying to figure out who she is. The boy is her constant. He is the other half of her heart. United hearts never to be broken.

And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Colossians 3:14