It was a chilly, October night, and I had just arrived home from a wedding. With a nervous feeling in the pit of my stomach, I put on my pajamas, sat on my bed and grabbed my phone. A boy wanted to call me.

Now, at this point in my life, I had been single for over a year. I had been in relationships before, but I had completely forgotten how everything worked. It was like I was starting fresh. The phone rang, and, after a momentary freakout, I answered.

I then received very good news. This guy was interested in me and wanted to pursue a relationship with me. It was a magical moment. There were fireworks. Dance parties. A giant banquet comparable to those at Hogwarts. Okay, maybe not all of that, but I was elated. I liked a guy, and he liked me back. And most importantly, he loved Jesus and wanted any relationship with me to be grounded in that love. This is the guy I had been waiting for.

But then there was more to that phone call. He wanted to date me...but he wanted to wait until the end of the semester. Now, normally, this isn't what a girl wants to hear. But there were so many good reasons behind it. We needed to figure out how everything would work based on my position in our campus ministry. We had only known each other for a couple of months, and we could take this time to get to know each other better. And, most importantly, he just felt led the Lord was calling us to wait.

I did not hesitate in the slightest to agree to this arrangement. I trusted him and his obedience to the Lord. I wanted to make sure I was putting Christ before everything, including my relationship. And this sacrifice would help with that.

So, we spent the next eight weeks getting to know each other. We spent time together. We prayed for our relationship. We read Scripture together. We sought counsel from godly friends and family. We waited to show our affection through physical touch. No kissing. No holding hands. No cuddling. And we just spent time preparing our hearts for our relationship.

But we are both still sinners, and we were far from perfect in this period of waiting. I could have spent much more time in prayer and in the Word. There were definitely times where I put him first. And, without even realizing it, I would reach out and touch him out of affection.

But that is one of the reasons I think God called us to wait to date. We were learning. We were bound to mess up, but we would be able to learn from those mistakes when our relationship officially began.

And then, on Halloween night, God revealed to me one of the main reasons why we were called to wait. He had a further call for us, and it was one I honestly wasn't very happy about at first.

This guy that I cared about so incredibly much and was so excited to begin dating looked me in the eye and told me he thought we should wait to kiss until marriage.

I immediately thought of watching the Duggar family on television. I remembered hearing them talk about waiting to kiss until their wedding day and thinking, "They are crazy. There is no way I would ever do that." But here it was. It was happening to me.

I spent the next few weeks grieving and questioning the loss of that part of our relationship. So many thoughts would run through my head. Why do we have to wait? Kissing isn't a sin. We have all kinds of friends in relationships that kiss each other. Maybe this is just a test of obedience. Maybe if I'm willing to lay this down, God won't make me.

But it wasn't a test. It was real. And I didn't know how I was going to do it.

But my God is a good and gracious God, and in this period of waiting, He revealed so much truth to me. No, kissing isn't a sin. Nowhere in Scripture does it say, "Thou shalt not kiss until you are married." But Proverbs 4:23 does say, "Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it."

Scripture also tells us that our bodies are a temple of Christ. And it tells us to pursue purity in all areas of our lives.

I'm not saying whatsoever that every Christian should wait to kiss until marriage because I don't think that is everyone's call. But as I read the Word and let the Lord mold my heart, I realized that it was my call. I had struggled with guarding my heart and with purity in the past. And in God's love for me, He gave me this command to help me guard my heart and remain pure.

I once heard at a Christian conference, "God's blessings are His commands, and His commands are His blessings." This command was not meant to be a burden but a blessing. And if I chose to rest in the joy of that and in the strength of the Lord, I would be able to wait to kiss this man until the day we were married.

Now that the end of the semester has come, we have officially begun dating. And by no means does that mean waiting to kiss will get easier. In fact, I know it will get harder with time.

I also know there are people that don't believe that we are actually going to wait. And there will be people on our wedding day who don't believe that they are witnessing our first kiss.

But we are not called to please people. We are called to please God. And I know that waiting to kiss someone I care about so much until my wedding day is not something I alone can accomplish.

But I know I can do anything through the power of my God and King. And what a blessing it is to be able to do this with Him.