To my dear loved one,

You've done more for me than you will ever know. You have changed my life for the better and that is something I can never repay. I know at times we can become comfortable with each other and we forget to express our gratitude and our emotions, and that's okay. However, I want to do something sweet and publicly share several reasons of why I love you, us, and what is yet to come.

1. I love your patience.

Your patience for me over the past few years is impressive and needs to be acknowledged. You were always on my side even when I wasn't sure if I was on yours. You let me gripe, whine and complain about the simplest and the stupidest of things. When I was angry with you, you always let me get it out and you were patient enough to let us resolve every conflict (even when you did nothing wrong and it was me who messed up). You never let me go to bed angry and it's because you'd rather lose the argument than lose me, and that means so much.

2. I love your kindness.

I have seen your heart more than anyone else in this world, and I know the love that it contains is not for just one person. The way you treat me is appreciated, but the way you treat others - complete strangers - is far more valuable. I've seen you give up your time and hard-earned money for the poor, I've seen you go out of your way to be kind to an elderly person, and I've seen you choose kindness over anger in times where you were treated unfairly. The kindness that is in your heart makes me fall in love with you all over again every day.

3. I love that you are not envious, boastful or proud.

When it comes to loving me, you trust me enough to make my own decisions. You do not become envious while I am at a different college, or hanging with friends, because you love me enough to not keep a leash on me. At the same time, you are humble because you share your accomplishments with me, instead of rubbing them in my face. You are also vulnerable enough to confess your mistakes and to let me help you overcome the trials and tribulations. You get that we are a team and that when one of us is going through something, we should experience the feelings together.

4. I love that you are not self-seeking and you keep no records of wrongs.

It would be much easier for you to constantly accuse me of my past wrongdoings and to forever hold those mistakes over my head; but you don't. You forgive them time after time and you always let me gain back your trust. You do not seek to fulfill your desires in our relationship, but you always put me and my wants first. I try to do the same for you, but you are determined to always take my thoughts into consideration. We are together to serve each other, not to build up ourselves. I thank you for practicing that and for being a good example of how God loves the church.

5. I love that you always protect, hope for, and trust me.

You have put various amounts of faith into me over the past several years. You go out of your way to protect me and make sure I am not getting myself into harmful situations. I didn't understand it then, but I do now. You have always had hope for us. You never let anything change the way you viewed me. You told me you loved me and wanted to be with me, and no matter how many challenges I threw at you, you stayed true to that promise. Finally, you trust me. You trust me with our future, you trust me when I'm not with you, but most importantly: you trust me with your heart. That is such an honorable position to have and I love being able to hold your heart because you hold mine.

With this type of love, how can it ever fail? Love never fails, if it is true love. I am proud to share a love with you that resembles the scripture that defines love:

1 Corinthians 13: 4-8: "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no records of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails..."