Giving Love a Chance

Right now I am dating this amazing guy Rodrigo. I feel so grateful to have this relationship in my life right now. In a paper I wrote for my Marriage Preparation class, I wrote that one of my goals is to put forth more effort in my relationships and to have the courage to be open and honest with my feelings in the relationship. Shortly thereafter, I met Rodrigo. I feel like this has allowed me to begin working towards fulfilling these goals. He has been such a blessing in my life in that his love has helped me to put forth more effort and overcome some of my fears of commitment.
There were some things I was unsure about in our relationship and I assumed that he may not understand my perspective and be willing to work with me on these particular issues. I felt like it was unfair for me to say what I really wanted in our relationship. So instead of talking these things out with hi m, I told him that I needed to break up with him because we have different ideas of how our relationship should be. Luckily he called me on the fact that I was running from our relationship. He wanted to understand why I felt the way I did. This really allowed me to be willing to be open and honest in my communication with him. I was finally able to express my real concerns and realize that a lot of my actions were influenced by fear. This has been a wonderful and healing turning point in the relationship for me.
Before I could not logically understand some aspects of how things would work out, but I’m beginning to learn that sometimes we can’t understand this right away. If we stay close to God, He will help us to know and feel that what we are doing is right, even if we can not see it at first. Although the devil can imitate many things, he can not imitate feelings of peace. Through the peace of God’s Spirit, we can be assured that what we are pursuing will be a blessing for our lives.
Each day that I spend with Rodrigo, the more I am beginning to understand why God has brought him into my life. I feel so grateful that God is teaching me to learn from this process of dating. I think a lot of times the process is the key, even more than knowing what the end result will be. I also feel grateful that Rodrigo loved me enough to guide me to see things as they truly were. He did not give up on my despite my confusion and doubts. Through his gentle, patient love and the guidance of God, I am gaining the strength to face and recognize my weaknesses. I am learning that I do not need to feel trapped by them, but I can learn and grow because of them. A lot of times loving someone is connected with taking great risks, but the blessing and changes that come through the process of loving someone makes it worth it to face our fears.