Celeste Forrest, Staff Writer
“Dear Future husband…”
I was probably only thirteen years old when I first wrote those words down on paper. I didn’t know how to feel about those words…every syllable was filled with uncertainty and inked with a bit of doubt, but the hopeless romantic inside me did not stop myself from writing letters throughout middle school and high school.
I remember writing my first letter just about this time of year, around Valentine’s Day. Believe me, those adolescent days were no fun. While most of my friends were receiving chocolate in heart-shaped boxes and riding off to fancy restaurants with their boyfriends, I was alone, in my house, contemplating life and wondering why I felt so lonely. It was those moments when my mind drifted and I began to daydream. I daydreamed of someday finding a young man who would sweep me off my feet and take me to fancy restaurants and surprise me with little gifts. I imagined myself not being left alone on Valentine’s Day and being able to share it with someone special. I imagined the day I would date the right man, and marry him.
It was during this time in my life when I wrote to my future husband. I wrote not only to record my day, but I talked about my dreams, my fears, my accomplishments and my failures. In many letters, I expressed my struggles. I told my future husband about the worst of days and the best of days. I figured if I’m going to marry this guy, I might as well tell him everything about the girl I once was before I met him. The whole concept of writing to my future husband allowed me to not only focus on the “bigger picture” of my life, but it also challenged me to trust God in the “bigger picture.” After all, I had no idea who this guy was going to be, and where I would meet him. There were moments in my life when I felt completely loveless. I was worried and afraid. I doubted I would ever find the perfect man. There were nights I was deep in prayer and I cried impatiently to God, “Why am I always the one who is alone? Everyone out there has a boyfriend, except for me. Where is this “prince charming” I’m supposed to meet?” However, I knew that the love story of my life was being written by God’s hands, and as I was writing those letters to my future husband, God was telling me quietly in my heart, “Why are you worrying, my daughter? I got this.”
I asked a couple girls around campus to give me their thoughts and feedback about writing letters to their future husbands. Freshman Summer Howard suggested that some girls may write letters is because it creates a more personal connection to the man they will eventually share the rest of their lives with. “The concept is great because it enables the girl to tell her emotions plainly to her husband, possibly before she ever meets him,” Howard said. “Also, this gives the opportunity for the husband to know his wife at an earlier stage in life and know how she communicates through writing.”
Kyndal Jayroe, a sophomore, shared with me her experience with writing letters to her future husband. “That summer I wrote my first letter to my future husband, it was simple and sweet. I told him that I would save myself for him and him alone. That I would pray for him, and that we would live happily ever after.” However, as much as any girl would love to someday meet her prince charming, Jayroe expressed to me that the most important relationship any girl should have is a relationship with Jesus Christ: “God is my first love and the only one who has always been with me,” Jayroe said.
Even though writing letters to your future spouse might not be your thing, or perhaps you might find the whole notion ridiculous, it wouldn’t hurt to keep your future spouse in your mind and prayers this Valentine’s Day. Who knows, perhaps he or she is somewhere out there, thinking and praying for you too.