EXTRA! EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT! TRUE LOVE DOES EXIST!

The 23rd of this month (June 2011) will mark nine months since God has placed the most wonderful man I could ever think of in my life.

Josh and I met in much the same fashion that my father and his third wife met-- over a praying mantis. My friend, Julia, and I, after watching Steel Magnolias being preformed in our school's fine arts center, traveled to each other's dorm's to grab jackets before planning to head to my favorite coffee shop on Main Street to continue celebrating Julia's birthday. The September 11th night was cool with a light breeze. Warded off by jackets, the night was perfect.

Coming out of my dorm, walking, talking, and getting just beyond the light pole, Julia suddenly screamed and put her arm out in front of me to prevent me from stepping. Looking down, a praying mantis stood just as still as Julia and I on the sidewalk. Julia, hailing from Montana, had either never seen one before or never seen one that big. Inquiring about what it was, Julia and I stood and watched as the praying mantis made it's way from the sidewalk to the grass as I answered her question. Sitting down to talk about the differences in insects from Missouri and Montana, Julia took pictures and video and sent them to her mom as we talked. Several minutes later, two guys started walking in our direction. Inquiring as to why we were sitting on the sidewalk, Julia and I mildly announced the praying mantis' presence. Walking a few feet past us, the two guys sat down. Not introducing ourselves, the four of us simply started talking about different bugs and what we knew about them. The conversation took a more serious turn after awhile about how people often forget about the little things... like sitting on the sidewalk and watching a praying mantis... marveling at the simple life it lead simply in the moments that you were watching. One of the two guys, who I now know as my soul mate, Josh, piped up and said, "It's the little things in life that matter." In that instant my mind thought, I like this kid. We sat and talked, the four of us, for a few more minutes before parting ways, again never exchanging names and never really seeing each other's faces because of the dark.

Exactly a week and a day later, God yet again intervened and made sure that Josh and I ran into each other. Though that night was an emotional one for me because I had been sexually assaulted only hours before, the night of the 19th of September is one of the best nights that could have ever happened to me. Still in shock, I decided to walk the major lighted areas between my dorm and the main "hub" building of campus, my headphones blaring. I didn't know what to think of what had happened hours ago, didn't know what to make of what I should do or how I was feeling. I couldn't stay in my room and I didn't think to contact any of my friends, so I walked. During the course of my walking, a lacrosse ball went flying past my leg, almost hitting it. A guy came over and bent and picked up the ball as I passed by. I laughed aloud despite my headphones and continued walking. Little did I know that the ball was thrown by the other young man from the night of the praying mantis and now a mutual friend, Alex. Alex and Josh had talked after he, Alex, Julia, and I had parted ways the night of the 11th. Alex had commented that "praying mantis girl" was cute and Josh had agreed. Alex had thrown the ball the night of the 19th in an effort to give Josh another chance to grab my name and talk to me. Josh turned to notice, just in time, that I had headphones on just as I passed by. He thought his chance was blown.

The very next day, the 20th of September, Josh and I yet again crossed paths. Eating our routine Monday, Wednesday, Friday lunch in the caf, Julia and I had just walked into the caf to start grabbing food and sit down when a guy walked up next to me. Turning, he said,

"Hey, I don't know if you remember me, but I was one of the guys from the praying mantis about a week ago."

Instantly, even from just the one phrase I had heard that night, I knew who I was looking at.

"The 'it's the little things in life' guy!"

Through a few lightly stuttered words, I made out, "Yeah, that's me."

And then the real conversation started. Josh and I FINALLY exchanged names and then he asked if I had anywhere to sit. I reciprocated the question and told him that I was there for lunch with Julia and asked if he remembered her from the praying mantis, too. He did, and I introduced the two of them and we all sat down to lunch. Topics ranged from music to our majors, why and how we wound up at Lindenwood, and what exactly we enjoyed. Josh and I ended up exchanging numbers, and planned on jamming together with our respective instruments that Wednesday because we didn't have classes. Lunch over and classes needed to be attended, Josh, Julia, and I parted the caf. Walking out of the caf, a few of my soon to be Alpha Phi Omega brothers (a coed service fraternity based on Boy Scout morals) were sitting at the table where one could sign up to donate blood during our time off Wednesday. Walking over to the table to talk with my soon to be brothers, I signed up underneath Josh because I didn't know anyone else and didn't feel like giving blood alone. Parting ways, Josh and I agreed to see each other at the blood drive and then to music jam. Neither of us knew that that wasn't what God had planned.

Wednesday, September 22nd:

Tuesday night I called Josh to check with him again about the time we had signed up for the blood drive. Asking if I lived in Niccolls Hall, Josh said that he would pick me up out in front of my dorm Wednesday around 11 and we would walk to The Loft (a small place on campus with wifi, couches, tables, and an on the go lunch station) together. And we did. The whole way we talked. Inside The Loft, both waiting, giving, and after the blood drive, we talked. We wound up at JJs Restaurant, then Slackers, and PetsMart, and talked the whole way... there and back. We never breached the same subject twice and the conversation was serious but light-hearted from the get-go. We talked about our morals, values, likes, dislikes, and passions-- both loved and loathed. Back from our adventure, we jammed and bonded over artists we both knew, and Josh asked me to attend Swing Dancing Club with him the next day. Agreeing, Josh and I made our way to the caf, grabbed a drink, and headed to his dorm to watch the movie I had bought at Slackers. By the end of the movie Josh and I were freezing underneath a shared blanket and holding hands. Walking me back to my dorm, Josh and I said goodnight with a hug and a set meeting time for tomorrow.

Thursday, September 23rd:

Thursday dragged by, but nothing that day registered in my mind. Josh picked me up from my dorm, and we headed over to our school's fine arts center for Swing Dance Club. During our fun I learned that Josh was a super leader. And another thing occurred to me... my mind was made up. I knew I loved this kid. The first time the phrase "I love you" slipped that night, I made a mental note not to say it again.I didn't want to scare this kid off within the first two days... I had smiled more in the past two days than I felt I ever had in my life! But luck, and my mouth, didn't want to go my way. The second time I slipped, I didn't expect Josh to say it back. The way he looked at me, directly in the eyes, I knew that it was okay that I said it and meant it, and that it was okay that he said it back. I knew that it was perfectly fine that I was falling harder and faster than I had ever fallen, because he was falling too.

After Swing Dancing, Josh and I started walking back towards his dorm to exchange mp3 players. On our walk, Josh and I held hands and voiced aloud that we both liked each other. On the way back to my dorm, Josh stopped me at the bottom of a set of concrete stairs in between two dorms... sharing a beautiful sight with me that he accurately labeled "The Stairway to Heaven" after the Led Zeppelin song. Walking away from the stairs and just beyond the light pole, Josh asked the ultimate question.

"So, since we've established that I like you and you like me... Will you go out with me?"

I knew I'd be an idiot to say no. I hadn't scared him off, even after I'd slipped TWICE during Swing Dancing. So I told him so.

"I'd be an idiot to say no."

Josh's response made me fall even more in love with him... if it was even possible at the moment. "No, you wouldn't, I'd wait."

"Well then, yes." And more vehemently... "Yes!"

Josh walked me back to my dorm and then escorted me to my girls Bible study class, leaving me beaming with a friend of mine from my dorm, and gushing about the past 14 hours. When Bible study was over, I showed Josh one of my favorite places... a horizontally growing tree on our campus now known as the Crooked Tree. We sat, talking, laughing, like Bible study had never even interrupted the day. We walked down to Rally's for something to eat, talked some more, and then parted ways, yet again, at the door to my dorm... both of us smiling like goons.

In twenty-one days Josh and I will have been together for nine months. And those nine months have been the best nine months of my life so far. Josh and I have been through everything. He's been by my side during my depression, lead me into a deeper relationship with Christ, he's been by my side and texting my family when I was in the hospital, showing up randomly at my dorm, and being the sweetest guy on the planet. To this day Josh still holds the door for me, unlocks and opens the passenger door first, holds my hand in public, and boasts one of the biggest and brightest smiles whenever he spots me in a crowd. And though it's only been nine months, Josh and I both feel like it's been forever and a lifetime. And yet, at the same time, time has flown. We know we're made for each other, that God has us planned for each other all along. I can't be more grateful for all the joy, peace, comfort, laughter, tears, and, ultimately, love that Josh has brought into my life.

Chivalry, my friends, is not dead. Nor is true love. And sometimes... sometimes you don't have to look for it. Sometimes it stumbles into your life as an unexpected praying mantis on a sidewalk and a phrase that touches your heart.