The Right Fit

THIS WEEK I worked extra hard so I could come home for a day, today, when we are having my Mom's birthday party and Superbowl party combined. I'm very excited to be at home, especially since we are celebrating.

I actually came home last night. My mom came to take me back from school. When I got there I had my sister and brother right in front of me, and my dog standing up on my leg to greet me. I ate dinner and we watched a movie. I think my favorite thing, though, was a belated Christmas present I got, which hadn't gone as planned the first time.

The one thing I told my parents I really wanted for Christmas was a Promise Ring. Just a ring to wear as a promise to save myself for my future husband. A promise to God, to him, and to me. I was really looking forward to getting that ring for Christmas. Sure enough, I got it. It was a beautiful silver ring with the words "True Love Waits" engraved across it in smooth script. But when I put it on, it didn't fit. It was too small for me.

Disappointed, I managed to twist it off my finger and place it back into the box. Okay. I could wait a few days until we could exchange it at the store.

We went back to the store. They didn't have my size.

Dang it. We had to put in an order for another ring, but I had to go back to school before it would arrive. It was more than a month before I was able to put it on.

Last night my Mom gave me another black velvet box just like the other, and inside was another ring just like the old one. But this one fits! And I'm typing to you about it while it gleams on my hand with the words "True Love Waits."

When it didn't work out the first time, you can imagine I was let down. I knew it would come, but I wanted it to come NOW. A promise ring is a good thing to have. Something I SHOULD be able to have. I didn't want to have to wait for it.

But I did. And now I realize something great: the promise ring is something worth waiting for, just like the promise it represents.

Somehow waiting for my ring has made it more meaningful. It's reminded me that sometimes we can't have good things right away. Sometimes it's not the right fit the first time. But the right fit is on its way.

Valentine's Day is coming up next week, a day that always has me looking at my friends with their boyfriends and wondering when it will be my turn. I won't settle, and I won't flirt, so I will wait patiently and remember one of my favorite verses:

In Matthew 6:33 Jesus tells us not to worry about how to get the things we need. "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."

A girl doesn't need to be with a guy until she can be okay without one. If she learns to seek God first, she won't get stuck in the wrong fit, one that's really hard to get off. If she settles for that, she will never be happy with it. The right fit probably won't come right away, but it will come along, and it will mean more because she waited.

Now that I'm done waiting for my promise ring, I understand why I had to wait. It's so much better with the right one, one that fits me, one that I was patient for. Right now, especially this time of year, sometimes it will be annoying to wait. I'll be concerned that when another guy does come along it still might not be the right fit. But I'll wear my ring as long as I need to. And when the wait gets long and Valentine's Day gets old, I'll look at my ring and remember why I bother. True love does wait.