Our Love Story—Let’s Talk About Love

I was certain it wouldn’t take too long for Rob to figure out that I was alive because I was slated to go on a college group retreat with him and about twenty other people that next weekend.

In fact, Rob was the speaker and he was going to be preaching about love of all things. I was looking forward to hearing Rob speak in general, but I was extremely excited to hear him speak on such a relevant topic! And I’d be lying if I didn’t confess to the fact that I was incredibly hopeful not only to hear his perspective on love but also to get to know him a little better. With such a relatively small group of people going on this trip we were bound to get the opportunity to get to know each other at least a little bit better.  

I recall one specific thing Rob said about love that weekend. He encouraged us to redefine our concept of love—to let our current definition of love get run over by a Mac Truck. He went on to describe a love so much greater and so much more perfect than any earthly love we could muster—the love of Jesus Christ.

That weekend I learned a lot about God’s love, and I began to pray diligently for the kind of earthly love that would reflect God’s love for me. I confess though, it all seemed to be too good to be true. The kind of love Rob was talking about wasn’t anywhere close to the kind of “love” I was used to.

He also spoke strongly about the Bible’s description of the man being the leader in a relationship. I longed for that. I’d spent way too much time with way too many spineless guys. I knew that I was an exceptionally strong woman who would need an exceptionally strong man to lead me someday.    

I also learned a lot about Rob that weekend. I learned that he had a broken engagement the year prior. Was it coincidental that just a few days after his broken engagement I became a Christian? It became clear that God had done a significant work in his heart over the previous year. I know God had certainly done a significant work in my heart as well!

I got the chance to learn about some of his personal convictions about love and dating also. One thing I discovered was that he had a very strong conviction regarding his desire for purity. Refreshing. Strange. Encouraging. Motivating. Intriguing. Those were a few words that came to mind. A guy that strongly values purity? Isn’t that an oxymoron?

Finding a guy that desired to protect my heart by strongly valuing my purity? I’ll just go ahead and add it to the growing list of things I wanted in a man someday!


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