Looking back on it now, about a year and a half later, I have no idea how we faced the indefinite distance which initially held no promise of an end. The first months were bearable, with only 5 1/2 hour drives keeping our Ohio and Michigan homes separate, but that luxury soon was lost when Aaron continued in his journey to Salem, MA.

Over the past year we have seen each other an average of every two months. And interesting results have been produced from such unfavorable circumstances.

I have been very emotional. There were many days when I had no desire to be around other people because my need for my boyfriend/fiance would continually go unfulfilled. Tensions were more easily sparked than if we were physically together. Trust was tested. Faithfulness proved. Closeness intentionally strived for and preserved.

We could not merely "hang out": rather, talking was our only option. But we never have run out of things to say. Intimacy could only be achieved through communication. Cell phones dying or being misplaced were not only a frustration, but would prevent connection for a day. And a day without emotional closeness only exaggerated the distance.

Days were verbally recounted rather than experienced together. There were many lonely mornings, days, nights... Every special event was spent wistfully thinking of how much better it could have been shared with the other. Lives were lived apart. Decisions made apart. Birthdays, holidays, events experienced apart.

Yet here we are - after seemingly unending spans of separation, we are sitting four days away from the rest of our lives. Aaron flies to Ohio July 6 and we never will have to be apart again.

The challenges will be over. But challenges alone are not all that our distance has yielded. Aaron and I's love and commitment has been proven: even while living apart, we have learned that we cannot live without each other. We have been trained to talk and communicate about everything. We have learned to dismiss conflict quickly in order to avoid the devastation of its lingering. We have no secrets. Our love is independent of physically being together. And our faith in the Lord has grown to an indisputable belief that God's will prevails even through the impossible.

We did it. We took on something not knowing the difficulties it entailed and now sit at the end of the road, eagerly awaiting the jubilee that has been long promised. And looking back over the relationship, there is nothing I would have changed. Even at the lowest of our valleys, I would not have changed learning to rely on communication; learning to depend on the Lord; learning the ins and outs of each other; and realizing the depths of our love.