Fate.

I've probably said this before but in case you don't read Chris's blog, you should. I'm probably going to reference it a lot.

His most recent post talks about 'karmic fate,' so I thought I'd elaborate a little on my thoughts concerning the matter. Frankly, there are too many 'coincidences' that have brought us together at the right time, and I wanted to share them.

Coincidence Thread #1 -
When Hannah was getting talking about going on her mission, she and Chris were in the beginning stages of talking about marriage, but she really wanted to go. Chris felt strongly that she should go, and that he should support her. (This I've talked about before.) She went, and even though we don't talk about it much, I know it was tough on him. Things were okay, but as time passed she started falling out of love with him (I would say "How dare she!" but I'm glad she did) and by the time she got home she essentially had lost all interest. Obviously, Chris was a little bitter. (Wouldn't you be?)

BUT - had she not gone, they would probably be married by now. Had he not felt strongly that she should go, he MIGHT have tried to convince her to stay (and thus, they would probably be married). Had he not felt that he should be supportive, and blog about it, the chances of us meeting are SLIM TO NONE.

AND - Chris met a few girls while Hannah was gone that he was interested in enough that he could've dated them, but he didn't, because of Hannah. He even told me that if we had met while Hannah was gone, we wouldn't have dated. So simply because I discovered his blog AFTER she was home and disinterested, I got a chance, which leads me to:

Coincidence Thread #2 -
I honestly, truly, legitimately stumbled upon Chris's blog by mere chance. (Well, actually, I don't believe that one bit. There was no chance at all. But it WAS extremely random.) I am quite thoroughly addicted to The Anti-Austens, and I read them on a daily basis. (No, seriously, I check for posts every day.) When I was first introduced to the Anti-Austens in early September, I enjoyed it, and intended to read through all of their posts, but somehow I didn't until mid-late September. I finally did, and through them discovered The Bubblys, and through the Bubblys discovered Tripp Hazard, and through Tripp discovered Wait(ed) for a Sister Missionary. Seriously, I honestly don't even remember how or why exactly I clicked on the link to his blog. It sounded/looked intriguing I suppose. Some girls might've been deterred by the title, but I wasn't for some reason. I was bored and felt like creepin'.

Dead serious, from the instant I started reading this post, (I answered 'yes' to almost every question, and had I read the post in time, I would've gone) I thought, "Oh my goodness. I need to meet this boy. I need to date this boy. I wonder if the missionary is home. I wonder if they're dating. I wonder I wonder I wonder..." I've been 'drawn' to people before, but not someone I didn't know THAT quickly. I read a pretty giant chunk of his blog that night and left a comment on that post, but pretty much went to bed not expecting anything to come of it.

So, as some of you have probably read, I was shocked when the VERY NEXT DAY he had not only commented on one of my posts, but had starting following my blog. And most of you probably don't know, but Chris doesn't check/update his blog all that often, especially since Hannah came home. So the fact that I just happened to comment and he just happened to check his blog and respond, in that short period of time (which, frankly, to me was an indication of interest) is a little crazy. And almost necessary, because what I figured to be an indication of interest gave me the courage to be a little more 'bold' and email him. That's about where the 'coincidences' end on this subject, because after that it was all definitely just interest. But wait, there's more.

Coincidence Thread #3 -
Both of my recent 'relationships' (one legitimized and one not) failed after less than two weeks. I started dating David way too quickly, and he had the intuitiveness to end it when it was clear that we really weren't all that compatible, dating-wise. Had David been more 'persuadable' I would've convinced him to keep dating me, and then... yeah. Had AFC shown interest earlier in the semester, we probably would've started dating earlier, and possibly been more 'solidified' in a relationship when I met Chris (and therefore less interested in pursuing something).

There are more than that for sure, but those are the definite 'off the top of my head' ones.

Basically, in my opinion, we are 'meant to be', whether it's forever or just for now I don't know. Because these 'coincidences' are anything but.