“True love waits.” It wasn’t quite the type of chastity ring that I was looking for. Don’t get me wrong, I completely agreed with the principle, but as freshmen in college seriously discerning my vocation I felt like something symbolic or even a Claddagh ring would be more apropos. I put the ring back on the shelf and continued browsing through the Catholic gift store; I didn’t have $30.00 to spend anyway.
Back in my dorm room, however, the words wouldn’t leave me alone. But what was God trying to say to me with this? True love waits. My exact thought process: “No. Duh.” And with a roll of the eyes you could add to that, “Patience is a virtue.” What did that have to do with me and my vocational discernment?
Everything.
God was waiting for me to belong to Him just as much as I was longing to be His. “I know well the plans I have in mind for you” (Jer. 29:11). “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you” (Jer. 1:5). “With age-old love I have loved you” (Jer. 31:3).
He has been waiting for me for eternity. And He still loves me.
True love waits.
It is not simply a duty or moral obligation or even a lack of clarity of where God is leading. Nor is it a sort of limbo or resigned passivity. Rather, it is a promise. A promise that no matter what happens, whether I make a mistake, sin, fight the gifts and purifications He offers, or am beset by obstacles… His love still waits for me. He doesn’t give up. He is faithful.
“Late have I loved you. You waited for me, I searched for you. What took me so long?” Matt Maher sings in his song Alive Again. God waited while I searched. And He still waits while I still search. You see, that’s the beauty of a relationship with God. The more you seek Him, the more you find Him. Yet, the more you find Him, the more you must seek.
St. Augustine once said, “To fall in love with God is the greatest romance; to seek Him, the greatest adventure; to find Him, the greatest human achievement.” I hope that I never stop seeking Him, no matter where the adventure takes me – even if it is the road less traveled by. And I hope that I will never stop loving as I wait to see my Beloved face to face.
Maybe I should have bought that chastity ring. I certainly considered it. After all, it was only $30.00… But in the end, the lesson was priceless – “And that has made all the difference” (The Road Not Taken, Frost).
This is so profound Jennifer!! Hope maybe we can keep in touch!! God Bless You!