"We’re holding out until marriage to make out - to honour each other" | SWNS

A couple are waiting until marriage to kiss - to "honour" each other and create a "deeper connection".
Rebekah Hurford, 31, and her partner, Kirk Peter, 32, decided to wait until they tie the knot to have sex or make out properly.
The pair do share a peck and hug but put boundaries in place to ensure they don’t cross the line and never spend the night together.
Rebekah and Kirk, who works in video production, were raised as Christian but have both previously been intimate in relationships.
They felt their relationship was "special" and wanted to try holding out to see if it would help create a healthier relationship.
Rebekah, a marketing communications director, from New York City, US, said: “We decided to go a little strong with the boundaries to see if we can even do it.
“We decided to not make out with each other.
“He wasn’t going to sleep over. We wouldn’t share a room together.
“It’s definitely not an easy thing.
“I had been a bit sceptical about it.
“It’s been a really beautiful relationship.”
Kirk, from Connecticut, US, said: “I told Rebekah really early on that I want this to work out so I want to honour her in the way we do this relationship.
“I don’t want her to think I’m just after her for her body.
“In past relationships it was really easy to not think about that boundary and whether it had any significance at all.
“I told her ‘I don’t want even want to kiss you before we get married’.
“This is the shortest part of our relationship.
“What is this time next to forever?”
The couple met through the church Rebekah works at and Kirk volunteers at in February 2023.
Rebekah said: “He started hitting me up and was flirting in my DMs.
“I wasn’t interested at all. He wasn’t my type.
“I was very picky.”
But Kirk won Rebekah over on their second date when he wrote a list of 30 questions to ask her.
She said: “I thought this is special. This is different.
“It progressed really fast.”
Kirk asked Rebekah to be his girlfriend in June 2023 and the couple decided to do things differently from their previous relationships .
Rebekah said: “Not having sex until marriage is a value I hold.
“Sleeping with people and doing other things - it didn’t work out.
“When I went outside these boundaries it created an internal conflict.
“I had tried dating in a lot of ways.
“We decided to go super radical to help us have a healthy dating relationship.”
Kirk said: “I’ve had bad relationships I didn’t want to do this one that same way.
“We can hold some boundaries and respect and honour each other.
“This doesn’t work unless we’re both on the same page.
“We wanted a deeper connection - mentally, intellectually and spiritually as well as just to see if we had fun with each other.”
Rebekah and Kirk haven’t made out and make sure they don’t sleep over or even stay in the same room on holiday.
Rebekah said: “I want the person I marry to be my best friend.”
Despite holding out the couple have no concerns over what their sex or first snog will be like.
Rebekah said: “We’re very attracted to each other.
“It’s hard to not move forward.
“People say we’re going to have a terrible wedding night.
“I don’t believe that.
“There’s no worries.”
Kirk said: "I don’t put it on a high pedestal.
"I just think of it as another level of us climbing the intimacy ladder."
The couple plan to get engaged and married soon - when they can align their finances to make it possible.
Kirk said: “Hard things are worth it.
“There is a deeper trust we have for each other.
“People see that and say they want that. They want the real thing.
“I never thought I could care or love someone like I do now.”
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