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I am 26 years old and I have a professional degree. I could not have been where I am today had it not been for my parents’ support and assistance. Two years ago, I met a lovely girl. Eventually I began to know her and we spent some nice time together in the youth groups. We also spent some time alone talking further. I learned of her past and that she was in a relationship with another guy who wasn't Egyptian but had been baptized in our church. My parents raised me to have very strict and high standards and my options have always been very narrow. The conditions have always been very strict. I went back home and notified my parents about her and that I intended to get to know her more. I also learned from her various specifics about her previous relationship and that there were physical aspects to that relationship. Whilst I expected, it grieved me as I had always wanted "that clean, untouched, unkissed, soul" that my parents raised me up to find. I cannot speak the same of myself. My parents learned of her past through a few pictures on the internet, of which they did not approve.

I have never felt about any girl like I feel about this girl and I see no issue with her and why she is not compatible. I have taken time away from her as advised by bishops and priests and everyone they suggested and tried my best to satisfy them. I cannot go ahead without their blessing. That’s not me. But at the same time, I have always lived my life bowed down to everyone, always pleasing everyone, and never myself. I cannot marry someone I don’t love and I will not live my life forever according to my parents’ way of life.

Since then, we have been "friends." For the past 6 months, I have hardly spoken with her. I cannot open my heart to any other girl. I still have feelings for her and I haven’t been so sure or certain about anyone or anything in my life. I don’t know what I will do or where I will go and what will happen. I know if we had the chance that she would be with me and that she still has feelings for me, but she has been shunning herself from me as she knows the whole issue affects me and she is trying to protect both of us.

I have not known anyone like her. She makes me so genuinely happy and at peace like no other. I was relaxed. Since then, I have never been the same with my parents as I used to be.

You are doing many right things. Doing the right thing is sometimes uncomfortable, but it is temporary pain. Be assured that your patience and endurance will have a reward. God's blessings are secured for His obeying children who honor their parents. You have been a good son. I do not believe that the photos and whatever other inquiries your parents may have made about this girl are the real reason for the break-up or the delay in this possible budding relationship which could have led to marriage. There must be a more divine reason of which you are now not aware. Since all the bishops and clergy whom you have consulted responded in one accord, then, please comply with your parents' wishes and obtain their blessings. I hesitate to believe that this girl's unfavorable past is the only real issue, but rather a convenient deterrent with a spiritual basis. Despite the photos and other revelations about her and her family, God could have surely still given her grace in your parents' eyes. Thus, perhaps God used your parents' natural probing curiosity to discover her past indiscretions at such a critical time in the relationship, in order to enforce its termination. At any rate, at this point in your relationship, you must part ways and wait for God to reveal to you a future path which will be most appropriate for each of you. Continue to pray and be open to the idea of meeting other girls. Pray that God will also help her to move on. If it is God's will that you and she reunite, He will make it happen, and everyone will be at peace with the decision. If it is not in God's will, then it should not matter what or who interfered with the relationship; it was not strong enough to weather the storm. A good and blessed relationship will, by the grace of God, be able to stand up to adversities, persevere, and blossom into spiritual maturity for the two individuals.

"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope" (Jeremiah 29:11).