Where the heck am I supposed to start this story???
I guess at the beginning...
Five years ago, as a freshman at Welcome Week at Southwest Baptist University (small, shameless plug here, BEST SCHOOL EVER), I was invited by this crazy girl I had just met out to some cliffs to hang out with her and this guy she totally had a huge crush on. Her name was Amanda, and she ended up becoming one (of three) of the closest friends I've ever had, and his name was Thomas. The first thing I noticed about him was his eyes. Big, bright, deep blue eyes. Over the next year, he and I ran in different circles, but would see each other every once in a while. Over Jan-term he finally accepted my Facebook friend request (it's getting real here folks), and during the very last week of the semester, he bravely requested my friendship on Farmtown...yes, Farmtown. I, of course, like the dignified honors student I am, accepted, and proceeded to check my farm hourly to see if Thomas had sent me any corn. Hahaha.
A few nights later, we were both on Facebook at three in the morning while cramming for our final exams, and he offered to bring me some coffee to keep me awake. He left his roommate's truck running to "drop off" the coffee...two hours, a half a tank of gas, and all my heart later, he left.
We came back early for Welcome Week that fall. The first night back I "needed a running partner" (in case you were unaware so far of my affections and intentions it was a STRUGGLE for me to run half a mile) so I asked him to take me to the park, and huffed and puffed my way there and back in an attempt to impress. Over the next few days we spent every second together. We lit off fireworks, went star gazing, coordinated our Welcome Week groups' activities in an attempt to "foster relationships" haha. Foster our relationship. It was the perfect start.
One week later, he held my hand. A week after that, he asked me to be his girlfriend. On October 21st he told me he loved me, and I said it back with our first kiss. In January, he left for boot camp, and over the next six months, we wrote letters every day. Two months after he got home, he proposed.
To make a long-ish story shorter, ummmmmmmmm we broke up. In the end, it wasn't God's timing. It was ours. Thomas moved back to St. Louis, and I stayed at SBU. SO many amazing things came from our break-up, which is another blog post, but a few from my perspective would be that I made really close girl friends which is something I'd never had before, I learned to place my identity in Christ, and I learned to listen for His prompting and obey. Just a few of the many ways I was able to grow, and I'm sure Thomas would also say the same.
Now...to get to the fun part.
Four weeks ago, I was driving to St. Louis (where Thomas is from) and got the crazy idea that I should text Katie, Tom's sister, and meet up with her for dinner, just to catch up. I was a little afraid she wouldn't want to see me, but she was so excited! When I asked her about her family, she briefly told me that Thomas was at training for the next month and wouldn't be home when I came. When we met up, she cautiously told me that she had told her mom I was in town and if I would like to see her, she would LOVE to see me. So, of course, I wanted to see her, so I agreed to meet up with her. We decided to go to ice cream, and what happened was that Tom's other sister, Heather, was with his mom, and then his dad had to come to the ice cream store to get his mom, so basically I saw the entire family haha. It was perfect. The next day, I had dinner with his parents (how's that for intimidating!?) and then went on a walk with his mom for two whole hours. We talked about life and school and everything, and we talked about Thomas. By the end of the night, I knew I needed to at least reach out to him in some way...
I ended up calling him that night. I knew I wanted him back the second I heard his voice. He said "Specialist Ferguson...hello...is anyone there?" and then I totally hung up because I was so nervous hahaha. I got the courage up to call him again, and left a voicemail and anxiously waited five whole minutes before he called me back. I think I about gave him a heart attack. He had never stopped loving me. We talked for three hours just the first night alone and proceeded to talk every night for the next week. After a week of talking on the phone, we finally discovered FaceTime and switched to that haha. This Friday, I got to see Thomas for the first time in three years. He told me to meet him at the barn. When I got there, there was a trail of tea candles in mason jars and rose petals leading up to the hay loft. He had set up a cozy little hideout with a hay-bale couch and a huge bouquet of flowers. I didn't care about anything but seeing him though. (Don't tell him I said that) ;)
He has gotten bigger (and buffer hehe) and older over the last three years, but he still has the same heart. I fell in love with that boy three years ago and, on Friday, I picked right back where we left off, but with a man instead. I could go on and on about the way he wakes up early to make me breakfast and buys me presents and food and takes me on dates and spoils me rotten, but if any of you have ever seen the way he looks at me, that's all it takes.
