my own fairy tale.

This boy sought my heart through Jesus Christ, and captured it on the 23rd of a cold January night. I watched months before as he captivated me without even knowing; his strumming of guitar for a God he knew intimately, his teasing and teaching with great love, his sitting with the least of these seeing the brokenness they've fled from, his loyalty to a family of nine. My relationships have been far and few from glorifying God, but still the Lord's redemption was more faithful than I ever have been and He gave me him. He gave me a relationship to set upon the foundation of Christ, to reflect the most beautiful relationship in the entire world (and for that, I'm beyond thankful).
In ten days, I'll be living in a foreign country and,
I think I may just miss that smile the most.
The way it ties around my fragile heart and keeps my swelling tears from falling. The way it smirks at me after a disagreement and pulls me to a peace of mind. The way it quietly loosens the guard of my heart and embraces the obvious imperfections of my flesh. The way it's committed and the way it's committing.
I have a hard time fathoming the gift that he's been to me.
He has reached in and questioned the places I've hardened to pull out the potential I blinded myself to. He's gently challenged me to look within; within the motives, and the words, and the actions and allowed me to ponder whether those were mine or God's. Never forcing the realization that more often than not they were mine. He's stayed by my side and fought as I pushed away and he's confessed the vulnerability of his heart so that I may benefit from his failures. He's smiled warmly as I've simply grown. He exuberates 'Love is patient' by patiently awaiting my responses in the long moments of silence.
This gift has been wrapped carefully just for me, it seems.
He's part of the reason I keep going.
He's part of the reason I keep seeking.
He's part of the reason I can smile.
He's part of the reason I can hope.

The other part, the main part is the One whose given.
and He's given freely, not just in the body of Samuel Erwin but in the grace of His Son,
and in that grace, I've been rescued time and time again
but on January 23rd, He chose to have his warrior, my gift
rescue me.