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My name is Kristin, and I attended Cedarville University from the fall of 2001 to the spring of 2002. I met my partner Julie who attended CU from the fall of 2001 to the winter of 2002. We were neighbors at Printy Hall and we became friends quickly. As the year progressed, our friendship deepened into a closer relationship that, at the time, we did not realize was romantic love.
Julie and I were both raised in conservative Christian homes where gay people were rarely spoken about, except to say that homosexuality was an "abominable sin." Because of this and our lack of exposure to actual gays and lesbians, we did not recognize our relationship for what it was. Although we ourselves did not see it, our RA and other Cedarville staff did. We were questioned, given various penalties and restrictions, yet still allowed to stay at the school.
The next three years of our lives were confusing as we grappled with our feelings for each other and the "biblical truth" we had always been taught to believe. We spent this time apart from each other as I spent time at school in Michigan and Julie attended a college near her home in Massachusetts. We prayed, sought counsel, and even stopped speaking to each other for 8 months as we tried to determine what the best way to continue with our relationship was.
Finally, in our conversations on the phone, we came to a point where we had a peace with God and felt we could have a loving relationship and still consider ourselves Christians. We committed our lives to loving each other on October 1, 2003 and have been together ever since.
Recently, we ended the long-distance phase of our relationship and are living together in Malden, MA. I am starting a career in professional writing and Julie is a graduate nursing student in Boston. While we still have a long way to go with our families, we have wonderful friends who love and support us and a great local church (First Church of Somerville, UCC) as our support systems. We were encouraged to find cedarvilleout.org as a space for people like us to share our stories and give hope.
God bless as you discover what He has laid before you. We hope you find encouragement through our story. If you would like to contact us or ask any further questions you can email us at kristin.r.armitage@hotmail.com.
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