For Those Who Wait

Listening to "Haven't Met You Yet" by Michael Buble. Repetitively.

Those of you who have been following me for a long time or who know me personally know that I am a hopeless romantic. All my favorite songs are love songs ("Haven't Met You Yet," "You and Me," "Run Away With Me," "Falling In"). All of my books that I write have a romantic aspect to them. My two favorite musicals have the classic storyline of the girl who likes the boy who likes someone else and she ends up winning him in the end. *Dreamy sigh*

But I have yet to reach the love story portion of my own life. It's probably because 1) I'm not looking right now and 2) I have extremely high standards. I say this with My List in mind. That's right. I have written a list of things that my man needs to have along with some things I hope he'll have. I figured I'd write about a few items on the list today.

Item #1: A passionate, obvious, undying love for God stronger than one he could ever have for me.
This is kind of a no-brainer. I've made up my mind that if he doesn't have this most important item I'm not even going to consider him. Period. End of story. Moving on.

Item #7: A fun-loving, adventurous, let's-get-out-there-and-do-something-awesome spirit.
This is something he needs to have. I'm not a fancy restaurant, flowers and chocolate kind of girl. I'm an indoor-skydiving, get-lost-on-a-hike, jet-off-to-Paris-on-a-whim kind of girl. In my eyes, spontaneous is romantic and adventurous is hot. This item kind of goes along with item #20 (a spontaneous and fun-loving personality) and it's something that my guy needs to have.

Item #10: An awareness of my independent, nothing-can-hold-me-down, conquer-the-world mindset and a respect for it.
I have huge plans for my life. And whereas the perfect guy will also have plans for his, I need him to know mine and be willing to help me accomplish them.

Item #13: The ability to make me laugh without even trying and witty remarks on the tip of his tongue.
He has to be able to make me laugh. I love to laugh and will laugh at the smallest thing but I'm not going to marry some stick in the mud with no sense of humor. He has to know how to make me laugh when I don't want to.

Item #19: A good sense of style, music and food.
This is one of the things I want him to have but won't die if he doesn't. Style, music and food are three things I have strong opinions on and it would be nice if he knew his way around all three. And if he can cook and sing I'll be happy too.

Item #27: A humble spirit.
This is kind of an obvious one. I don't want a proud, cocky, apathetic jerk with no regard for anyone's feeling but his own. I want the opposite.

Item #32: A charming demeanor that makes me proud to tell others about him.
This isn't the most important thing. His love of God and willingness to serve others seem like bigger deals. But there should be characteristics about his personality and even his looks that make me happy to be with him. Even on our fiftieth anniversary I want to be able to look at him and still feel the same way I did when I first fell in love with him.

This is just the beginning. I have many many more items on the list that I'm sure are pretty obvious. He has to be smart and wise, loving, protective and brave. And I have to know without doubt that God put him on Earth for me and me alone and me for him. I haven't met anyone who even comes close to these standards and right now that's okay. I trust that God knows what He's doing and that my prince is out there somewhere.

He just got lost in Africa on his way here and is too stubborn to ask for directions.