My First Kiss Went A Little Like This

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!

Instead of getting all lovey-dovey like I did in my happy birthday to my husband post, I decided to write about my first kiss :)

If you haven't read our love story yet or watched the video, you totally should. It'll give you some background.

Okayyyy so let's get down to it. 

Hudson and I have never dated anyone else. We started dating when we were 16, and never broke up.

Was it hard? Yes. Did we argue? Of course. Was it worth it? Absolutely.

Anyways, as if that isn't crazy enough, another crazy thing is this:

We saved our first kiss until the day we got engaged.

WOAH.

So the actual kiss happened right after Hudson proposed, walked me down a memory lane he had created in the woods, and sat me down on a picnic blanket covered in roses.

It was the most special thing ever.

And then it started pouring rain.

HAHA. That would happen. We went from having this beautiful, special kiss to running around like chickens with our heads cut off trying to pick up all of the memory lane stuff before having to sprint a mile back to the car. I'm guessing this was definitely not Hudson's plan, but hey, I was just thrilled to be engaged so it didn't phase me. It was the best day of my life (until my wedding)!

But so many people have asked us, why? Why save your first kiss until you got engaged?

Before I answer, I need to give some disclaimers. (1) In no way do we think kissing is "wrong." Almost every single one of our friends kissed while they were dating like normal people -- ha. (2)  I am not writing this to judge anyone or make anyone feel bad. I am writing this so that single people might read our story and be encouraged to stay pure. (3) Waiting to kiss wasn't something we "had" to do. We chose to do it. Yes, we are Christians and God does call us to be pure. But He doesn't say kissing in and of itself is wrong.

For me and Hudson, saving our first kiss signified that we were committed to being pure. We didn't want to JUST be virgins on our wedding day and get as close to the line as possible -- we wanted to be as pure as we could. Also, although when we were dating I was like 99% sure I'd marry Hudson, I wanted to know for sure that my future husband was the only person who I shared something so personal as a kiss with.

Everyone's experience is different, and some of my friends have said that through dating other people they actually learned more about who they wanted to marry. But for us, dating only each other and waiting to kiss really worked -- and I am so thankful that we did what we did.

Yes, it was difficult. Really difficult at times. We had to set strong guidelines and make intentional decisions to not be alone together for too long. But my recommendation is this. If you are currently in a relationship, take some time to talk with your boyfriend about your boundaries for purity. Or if you are single, take time to think about what you want your boundaries to be. Write them down now, because believe me, the longer you date the more difficult it gets!

If you have questions about purity or want to discuss something, feel free to email me -- I would be happy to talk with you!