Two Month Anniversary :)

Jim,

How can it be that two months have passed by since our first date and the start of this crazy amazing relationship? It seems like it has just been days and yet at other times an entire lifetime. In two months' time, I have learned so much, not just about you but about myself.

I started out being so scared and feeling so alone here in Kenya. Not because of anything you did or didn't do, but because of my own insecurities coming to the surface. I was scared to death that I wasn't going to be what you were looking for and that my time here was going to be so strange and uncomfortable. I knew that I was completely safe with you , but there was still that hint of doubt because while I had spent much time chatting with you on Facebook and just a little bit of time with you in person, I still didn't feel like I knew you at all. How quickly things changed! I am so glad that we had a few days between teams to get settled in together and to have some time to feel like we could get to know each other. First date... yep that night was a night to remember for all time! The elated feeling of knowing that I belonged to someone was unlike anything I had felt before in such an intense way. Fast forward to that night coming home from Eldoret after we took Kevin to the airport... Remember it? I had the best time with you eating Chinese food and then riding back home. I can remember it like it was yesterday. You finally holding my hand made all of these butterflies fly around inside and I couldn't imagine feeling any more special or wanted that I felt at that very moment. In case you didn't quite know it yet, feeling like I belong is a big deal to me... Feeling as though I am not wanted or an outsider is a tough experience for me.. I will have to explain that another day. Again another night to remember filled with amazing experiences. I have loved every hand holding minute I have had with you to this day since then.. Again it just adds to the feelings of being wanted and desired. It's a big deal. Fast forward again to the one month anniversary date, which I am still so sorry that I forgot the exact date, our first kiss... You might as well have melted me into a puddle right then and there... I feel the same way every time we kiss. It is a great feeling! Fast forward again... now here we are making wedding plans on two continents, trying to find housing for when we return as husband and wife, making a budget and oh so much more... So much has happened in the last two months and it is just amazing to see the hand of God in the middle of it all. 

Without Him in the middle,I am sure that this wouldn't be happening so quickly. I am sure that things would NOT be going along so well. I anxiously look forward to the future. Our love story is just beginning and I can't wait to watch as God writes the rest of it on the pages of our lives. It is going to be the best story to share with others in ministry! What a testimony to have to share with other single adults that are in the same situation we found ourselves in... and then the blessings of waiting and following God's leadership in this area. It is going to make for some amazing opportunities I am sure. 

I can't wait for the day that my name changes from Miss Melody Ann MacWhirter to Mrs. Melody Ann Cooper. (Yeah I am getting rid of the MacWhirter... that's a lot of last name to write...) I can't wait until I have a permanently sleeping buddy who NEVER has to go home because his home is with me. I can't wait to be our own family. That is probably one thing that I have hoped and waited for for so long. My own family... Going to be an amazing feeling... I can already imagine it because in those times when I am cooking supper for you or baking or just sitting with you, I can feel what it is going to be like to be a family with you... and it is just the best feeling. Again it is a warm feeling that brings with it a sense of belonging and being desired. I am wanted... for the first time since my parents died. Someone really wants me to be a part of their lives. I can't ask for more than that... Yet somehow I get more than that every day! I am looking forward to spending the next 18 days with you and making the most of each one. I am not looking forward to that LONG plane trip without you at all. The only thing that makes it tolerable is knowing that I am going to be spending the time at home making the preparations for our wedding and then I don't have to be apart from you. I think I got a little bit wordy, but there is much to be expressed from my heart. 

Know this... I love you more than you can imagine and that love grows daily. 

Love,
Melody