| Reflecting on my first year at Malone...
Coming into the 2005-2006 school year, I had two expectations: (1) get my life back on track with God while growing much deeper in faith and in my personal relationship with Jesus Christ, and (2) do well academically. However, I have no words even to begin to describe what actually happened. But....I'm going to try anyways....so sit back and relax...this might take awhile.
The year started out amazingly well. I was making friends left and right, much more than I had last year at Mount Union (To all my Mount friends: I still love all of you and miss you lots!!); my grades were much much better than my freshman year; and most importantly, Jesus Christ was number one in my life. It was the last week in October and I was sitting in my composition class. Our six foot something comp prof, who was a woman by the way, had asked a general question to the class. (To understand what is about to happen next, you must understand this. I sat in the first row, third seat in. Because I sat in the front row, I never turned around. I just didn't like the feeling of having all 30-40 students looking at me no matter what student was talking or what conversation was going on.) When the prof had called on someone to answer the question, the student began to speak. There was something different about this student. Her voice was very soothing, calm, and peaceful to listen to, but at the same time, when she spoke she sent an amazing feeling all over my body as well as sending chills up and down my spine. About halfway through her response, I very slowly turned around in my chair to see who this student was. When my eyes fell upon her, I could not help it to think, "Wow...she is the most beautiful person I have ever seen! However, I'm not going to worry about anything. If God's plan allows me to talk to her and get to know her, then so be it; if not, then that will be ok too." As my heart was racing faster and faster I turned back around to face the front of the room, trying not to make my actions quite obvious.
It wasn't until later when I was searching on Facebook for one of my friends that I randomly saw her profile. I'll admit it, I clicked on her profile link to see if I could find out a little more about her (i.e., her name is Shauna, she's a nursing major, she is from Rochester, NY, etc.). When I saw she had a screen name, I was a little nervous at first. I really did want to get to know her, but at the same time, I didn't want her to think anything bad of me. So, after finally gathering up all the courage I had, I added her to my buddy list. She was on! Now was my chance to talk to her and introduce myself.
Our first conversation was a lot longer than I had expected. It went amazingly well! She unfortunately had to leave for soccer practice, so I asked if I could talk to her later and she said sure. I was able to talk to her again later on that evening. After another surprisingly long conversation I asked her if she wanted to head up to latenight with me because I was going. She agreed! I knew I was going to be nervous, and I had hoped that we could just generate some form of conversation and not have too much awkward silence.
I'm going to fast forward through latenight and just say that it went soooo well that we talked for probably a total of almost 3-4 hours that night (both on and off of the computer)! Over the next week or so I spent time getting to know Shauna, hearing more about her family, her interests, her faith, and other topics as well. It wasn't until about two weeks after our "latenight" meeting that I thought something could develop here into more than just a friendship. However, I wasn't going to let me be in control of that; I wanted God to let things happen according to His will.
After about a few weeks of talking to each other, Shauna and I both decided that something was there between us and could very well develop into a relationship. We ultimately decided to wait a semester though to see if this was really what God had in mind, or if this was something of our own personal desires. In the months that followed, we had many many memorable times together. There were lots of smiles and laughter hanging out with friends and with each other. However, we also delt with some very very tough issues. As each roadblock came, we battled on. There were times when we felt like quitting and giving up on making things work as far as a relationship was concerned. I didn't know how much longer I was going to be able to last. But God is amazing, isn't He?!
On January 18th, with hands shaking so bad I thought people were going to think I was having a seizure, I called Shauna's dad to ask him if I could have permission to date his daughter. After listening to his words of wisdom and advice, he said, "Yes, I give you permission to date my daughter." PRAISE THE LORD!!!!! I was SOOOO happy! When I went to go tell Shauna, she ran out of the dorm and leaped into my arms. Even at this point I was still shaking from our phone conversation. So, after coming back from yet another amazing latenight, at 1am I asked Shauna if she would be my girlfriend. She said, "YES!!!!"
These past four months (although they feel like seven months) have been the most amazing in my life!! Yes, we've had our share of ups and downs, just as any couple would. However, because we put God as first priority in both of our lives, He has soooo richly blessed the both us. I would never want to go through ANYTHING without Shauna right there beside me. She has been my Godsend, my angel, my best friend, and my everything. Thank you, baby, for everything we've been through, and for everything we are going to go through together! You're the BEST!
Oh yeah, I almost forgot...I joined Chorale and was able to go on tour with them, I got a job at the Wellness Center for next year, and I made Dean's List for the second semester!!
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