Vulnerability.

The definition of Vulnerability is as follows:

1.

a. Susceptible to physical or emotional injury.

b. Susceptible to attack: "We are vulnerable both by water and land, without either fleet or army" 

c. Open to censure or criticism; assailable.

2.

a. Liable to succumb, as to persuasion or temptation.

b. Games In a position to receive greater penalties or bonuses in a hand of bridge. In a rubber, used of the pair of players who score 100 points toward game.

If  we were in a classroom setting and I asked my audience how many people like to feel susceptible to attack or to receive greater penalties, how many would raise their hand?
Nobody wants to give another individual the power to hurt them.  It's like handing someone a newly sharpened knife and trusting them that they care enough about you not to stab you in the back, but instead to chop up some delicious food and use it to help you and nourish you rather than hurt you.  But Of course, the entire time that person is holding that knife, they have the potential to hurt you.  That can be a scary thing.
So what makes it worth it? You don't know what the person is going to do with the knife, until you give them the knife and see what decision they make.  Hopefully you won't hand a murderer you met this morning on the bus a knife! Obviously , the person that you hand the knife to is going to be someone that you trust.
Once you see how that person handles it, it becomes more natural to hand them the knife.  The hesitation fades slowly and it becomes something that you don't even think about.  You'll be in the kitchen cooking and you'll just hand them the knife and they'll hand you boiling pots of water and you just make these exchanges like it's nothing. Trusting each other not to use those things against one another.

Well, I am holding a knife, and I need to hand it to someone.
Not literally.
But I need to tell this person that I love his smile.
I love how his eyes light up when he is passionate about something.
I love how he is passionate about anything and everything that he sets his mind to.
I love how he seems so confident when he holds my hand.
I love that he pays attention to the emotions I am feeling by looking in my eyes.
I love that he remembers what I tell him... even the little things.
I love that he texts me good morning and goodnight.
I love when he kisses me on the nose.
I love that he shares with me plans that he says he hasn't hardly told anyone.
I love how active he is in the church.
I love that he has his priorities straight.
I love that he plays piano.
I love that he sings.
I love that he made me a little science experiment to figure out what would get me to sleep.
I love that on one of my worst days, He sung to me until I was calmed down enough to go to sleep.
I love that I can stay up with him for hours on end and talk about anything and everything without thinking of how tired I am going to be the next day.
I love that he genuinely cares about other people.
I love that he takes the time to get to know people.
I love that he is a worthy priesthood holder.
I love how my head fits perfectly in his chest.
I love that he reads my blogs.
I love that he loves to dance.
I love how important his family is to him.
I love that he knows how to dream.
I love that everything he does has a purpose.
I love that he reads my blog.
I love that I feel like I can tell him anything.
I love that he watches movies with me.
I love that he loves to cook (even though I haven't really tasted it yet.)
I love that is such a good story teller.
I love how much he supports others.
I love that he is constantly building other people up.
And last but not least, (and not really last but for the sake of time and this post, last)
I love that my smile is more effective than my puppy dog pout.

So there's the knife. You can turn around and not even take it, you can take it from me and set it on the counter, you can take it and use it against me, or you can take it and chop up some delicious apples and nourish me with it.
The ball is no longer in my court.