We last spoke of the night I officially entered into a relationship with Brandon. That was such an exciting time! Due to the nature of what God was doing, I didn't really speak about things because I wanted God to have complete control over the situation and I didn't want to be swayed by anyone, one way or another, but ONLY lead by God. With the exception of a few people, my unfolding love story was kept under wraps. I will never forget going home the night I entered into my relationship. With sheer elation pumping through my veins, I sat down on my bed with my Mom. We pulled out my laptop, got on Facebook and went to truly make things official... I was going to change my relationship status on Facebook! Haha, I know that may seem silly... but when you've waited so long for God to bring the one He has for you into your life, that public acknowledgment of what had just happened felt so incredible! My Mom and I laughed as I hit "enter" and the relationship status changed. Everyone was floored. I think people thought it was a joke in the beginning because they knew my stance on relationships, and to many I'm sure they thought I'd be single all my life because of that stance!... but people finally saw it was the real deal when I posted a picture of myself with the most handsome of men. ;)
(A picture from one of our first outings together, Brandon went with me [and my Mom] to run all of my many errands in preparation for my departure to Romania)
While that portion of the story may seem a little pointless, I want to invite each of you into my story as if you were there the moment things were happening. It's my desire for you to
feel as if you were "a fly on the wall"... so that means, at times, you must endure the "little things". That part of the story is an unforgettable moment for me...To me it was defining because it, in a way, seemed like proof that waiting does work and God WILL bring you His best when you choose to abide by His timeline.
Once we were officially in a relationship, we had a wonderful two weeks of spending time together, getting to better know one another, getting to laugh at/with each other... And then I had to do what I'd planned to do long before I ever met Brandon. I had to leave, for a MONTH.
*Cue the "awww"*. I know, it was definitely something quite difficult, an unexpected turn of events in a plan made a year ago. I was scheduled to leave for Romania August 1st to go on a month long mission trip. I was thrilled about the trip, it's all I could think about! Then, God brought my Prince Charming into my life and I thought "Really? You had to do this NOW? This is going to be tough". I didn't fully understand, but I knew that God had His reasons... so I kept moving forward. Before leaving, I made a photo box for Brandon filled with letters/pictures for each day that I was gone... Brandon surprised me by creating a "Tailor-Made Devotional" with a devotion for each day I was gone. I was moved by his thoughtfulness and ability to lead me in my spiritual walk with the Lord even though I was 6,176 miles away from him.
The trip to the airport proved to be quite difficult as we tried to cope with the length of our absence from one another... You'd think that since we'd only known each other for two weeks it'd make it easier, problem was that through walking down the path of purity we'd surrendered to Christ having control of our relationships, we viewed ourselves as "taken" without knowing who the person we were "taken by" was... now, we had faces/names to put with that "already taken" relationship. Yeah, it's much more challenging than you'd think. As we drove to the airport, I saw Brandon cry for the first time... later I found out that that was one of the few times he'd ever cried. As I went to board the plane I said goodbye to everyone... I looked into Brandon's eyes and already longed to be back gazing into them. We shook hands to say farewell since we also, with the exception of two permitted times, abstained from hugging... the intent of that was to remain free from any physical temptation that may arise. No, hugging is not a sin.. but by choice we chose to refrain from that form of physical contact as to not prematurely arouse anything in one another. *Song of Solomon 2:7* (My eyes, in regards to this topic, were greatly opened not long ago and I find the beauty of preserving myself down to hugs, kisses and hand holding so beautiful! To save even those "insignificant" parts of you for the one you love says to them that YOU are VERY significant to me. All of those insignificant things add up to something greatly significant and treasured... Remember that as you interact with the other sex. You have it within your power to not only value yourself in the big things, but also in the little things... I can assure you that a guy or girl worth having will appreciate that and also love and cherish you for the big and little things too!)
Once I was in Romania I was thrown into, what seemed to be, a whole new world (Now you're probably singing that song from Aladdin, I do apologize.. but I did the same thing haha). I loved being there, the people were wonderful... but the start of my trip proved to be quite challenging. I've touched on those difficulties in another post click here . While I was having a tough time understanding why some of the things were happening the way they were, my family and Brandon offered nothing but encouragement and support. Brandon's words pushed me to carry on. He always says "Quit in not in my vocabulary, I don't even know what that means"... I guess he rubbed off on me some because he pushed me deeper into the word and helped establish a strong foundation for me to stand upon. My time there finally got better, praise God!, and I started to really make an impact...but I did miss everyone back home dearly. The devotional Brandon made me was amazing, inspiring and uplifting... during my time there we did the same devotional everyday. What an incredible thing it was to stay on the same page spiritually while being so far apart, in those moments I truly felt God bringing us closer together... but more than anything He was drawing us closer to Himself which overflowed onto our relationship producing nothing but the best of fruit.
If you will recall a previous statement about me not understanding why God would bring me the man of my dreams to only have me turn around and leave 2 weeks later... I came to better understand while I was gone. God equipped me with an amazing love story/testimony shortly before my departure and when I went to Romania I was asked to speak at many camps. I didn't really come prepared with much for I didn't know how often I would be speaking but God blessed and allowed me to witness and influence, roughly, over 500 people while I was there. And what tended to be the arising topic/discussion/teaching? Purity and the beauty of waiting on the Lord. God gave me Brandon "for such a time as this" so that I could go and reach a people who's understanding of purity and courtship was minimal, to many they'd never even heard of such things. What a glorious experience. If our purpose in life is to glorify Christ in all things (1st Corinthians 10:31) then we must be ready and willing to sacrifice ourselves, no matter what, to fulfill that glorification of the Lord. While I didn't understand the purpose, I surrendered to God and the outcome was overwhelming. Had I been selfish and chosen to stay and pursue my own love story on my own terms, many people may not have ever been given the chance to hear about purity and "true love"... Christ would not have been glorified as He is so deserving of. Surrender is the key to love- the selflessness and surrender of yourself for another is the greatest form of love. The only way to obtain JOY (Jesus, Others, THEN Yourself) is through that... I encourage each of you to cling to Christ as you embrace purity and love... whether it's in regards to a relationship with someone, a friendship with someone or even a stranger you're simply passing by... surrender yourself (John 3:30) so that Christ may be glorified through you! That's why we're here, right? :)
I didn't mean to go all "preachy" on you guys, but what I said is true.
I will finish things up by getting back to the original point of this post. My love, or "like" if you will (we didn't say "I love you" until we were engaged), grew drastically for Brandon even though we were miles apart. Our hearts were joined together in a way that most people will never understand, the reason for that? Because GOD was the one in control. My hands, my good intentions, my leadership will breed nothing but fleshly failure... But God's infinite knowledge, power and wisdom will breed nothing but glory and success. It's a joy to share these tid-bits with all of you and I pray that God speaks to your heart in the unique and special ways that you need.
-Taylor
