Walk with me part 10

Dear Love,

Yesterday I ran. Yes, it is astonishing but I did truly run and it HURT! I ran the 5K early in the morning in Kuwait with a million percent humidity and a billion degrees and (as I found out 1/4 way into the race) I ran it very out of shape. At about the 1/4 way mark, I realized I need some motivation to keep me going or else I was going to give into this extremely strong desire to stop and walk. So I noticed a couple of girls running next to me that one had a bright colored shirt that made it easy to track and they seemed to have been right ahead of me the whole time so far. I thought "if these girls can run this race than certainly I should be able to also, I'll just keep up with them." It turned out that these couple of girls were in obvious better shape than I was because not too long ahead, the one bright shirt started to get lost in the other shirts ahead. So I tried to catch up. Certainly I couldn't let them beat me! Eventually they apparently got tired too because they stopped to walk. "Hah!" I thought, "I got them now". Several minutes later they strolled by me again. A couple times this went on, but each time they got ahead, it pushed me to run faster. And in the end - well, they beat me. But we were pretty close...and I never stopped running like I was tempted to.

 Do you know why you are the best girl for me? There are actually many reasons but one I pondered today is because you are as close to an exact replica of myself that I can picture anyone being. I remember when we were dating and I was pondering and pondering until my ponderer was sore about how to know who the right girl to marry would be and know we would be a compatible match. Then this idea came to me, more of like a vision or image I guess: I envisioned two people walking a path together, side by side, the whole way. That was it! Just two people walking together. By now you are probably remembering the song I wrote you and performed miserably when I proposed (please don't spend any time reflecting on that horribly embarrassing moment). Well anyways, that song was based off that idea. It was so simple but yet so profound to me. We are all on the path home - just like Lehi's dream. Some are further down the path, some behind. Some are going fast, some going slower. Some, perhaps, even diverging off the path. Of course the first goal was to find a girl that was on the path and dedicated to staying on it. But then - and this is the critical part of my vision - the next task is to find a girl that is about the same place as me on that path and going the same speed as me. It would do no good to be partnered with a person that wanted to travel a different speed or wasn't even in the same location to start with... So as we continued to date I got the distinct feeling we were on the path at the exact same place, at the same time, going the same direction, at the same rate. How much more compatible can you be? I resolved that nothing else matters, and I'm still convinced it doesn't. That being said, I'm amazed at how similar we are in every regard. Our likes and dislikes, opinions, attitudes, disposition, we like to both travel, we like to sit and stare at each other, we both like small groups of friends, we both struggle to meet new friends, we are both cautious entering new things, we like to laugh, we hate to exercise, we love our kids, we love the gospel, and we love our Heavenly Father. And on top of that, our pasts and prior experiences are much the same so we have similar experiences to draw upon. I just can't imagine a more perfect travel companion to relate to, support, provide companionship, encourage, motivate, and assist on this pathway home than you! And even through we share a lot the same, we also bring something slightly different to our journey together that compliments the other. Similar to running that race, the pace setters I chose weren't exactly the same, sometimes they pushed me, other times they (I'm assuming) needed to be pushed but in the end we crossed the finish line and I know for me, with every ounce of energy sucked from me.

I am so blessed to have met a "running" mate to help set the pace as we continue the path home. I hope that sometimes I can help you. But I know you push me and motivate me and I'm ever so grateful for the company and love you provide as we travel this life together!

Happy trails!

Love,

Your true best "mate" (i.e. friend - or mate, I guess that can go both ways)