A Letter From Maria

August 31, 2007

Dear Jonathan,

I want to thank you again for encouraging me to always be completely open and honest with you. Thank you for accepting me as I am and for wanting me to be myself - my best self, who God intends for me to be. Thank you for your openness and honesty with me throughout this entire journey so far! I know how much courage it must have taken for you to take such risks as to share your feelings with me, not knowing what the outcome would be! Thank you for your kindness and your patience with me, as I've worked through things, grown, been confused, confused you, etc! Thank you for giving me my space to work through things and for never being forceful or mean to me. Thank you for your strength. For your strength of character, for listening to your heart and trusting yourself and God when you chose to talk things out with me that Monday after soccer, even though Heidi advised against it. I don't know if you realize how much that means to me, it shows me that I can depend on you to do what you feel and think is right, even if that means doing something that others don't agree with. Thank you also for your moral strength. Thank you for telling me that you don't want us to get too close physically right now. Thank you for protecting both of our purity, even though I was being foolish and imprudent. Thank you for being able to say no to me, without being harsh or hurtful. Thank you for being a man of prayer, for seeking God's guidance continually especially as it applies to our relationship. Thank you for wanting and seeking the best, in your own life and also desiring the best for me. Your friendship is a gift from God and I've been able to draw closer to him through knowing you! I hope this gives you a bit of an idae of what you mean to me.

Yours in Christ,
Maria Therese