"A secret place of encounter - the intimacy of the Garden"

Before I ever opened the pages of Song of Songs…
I was already living it.

Long before I had language for intimacy with God,
I was already being pursued by a Bridegroom King
who saw me —
not in my strength, not in my gifting —
but in my desperation, my hunger, my ache.

Even as a girl, I longed for something deeper than what the world called love.
I couldn’t name it, but I could feel it:
a pull that went beyond fairy tales or romance —
a divine longing planted inside my chest.

"He has set eternity in the human heart…" (Ecclesiastes 3:11)
But mine didn't just echo eternity —
it ached for it.

I searched for belonging in family.
I searched for affirmation in the church.
I searched for identity in the good things —
obedience, service, excellence, purity.

But even there, I was misunderstood.
Mislabeled. Misread.
Silently asking:
“Who am I, really, beneath all these roles?”
“Why do I feel set apart but unseen?”

There were days I felt like the only one carrying this invisible weight…
and still, I couldn't let go of the whisper:

"Let Him kiss me with the kisses of His mouth..." (Song of Songs 1:2)

That verse didn’t just speak to me —
it summoned something hidden in my scroll.
It told me:
This is not just a book.
This is your beginning.

I was born to live a love story —
one written in fire, marked by delay,
tested in silence, and sealed with covenant.

My destiny isn’t found in applause or platforms.
It is found in the quiet places —
where the Bridegroom sings over me,
and I learn to sing back.