Heavenly Love Stories: Joseph & Jennifer

Joseph and Jennifer
   
June 9, 2012   
         
As told by Jenny:

My mother always said to pray and tell God exactly what you want in a husband. And make a list too. She said to pretend like you were making the perfect hamburger with all the yummy toppings. God likes us to be specific because He wants to give us the desires of our heart. So, I made a list a long time ago and always trusted that one day God would answer my prayer for a husband. 

When I was 28 years old, I found myself looking for a friend; someone to go places with together or share special time with. I told the Lord about it and shortly after decided to open up a temporary account on Eharmony.com for the sake of meeting someone. I may possibly strike up a good friendship, be a witness, or whatever the Lord had in mind. One month later, I began talking with my Joseph, my wonderful mail-order husband (as close to mail-order as you can get!). I made sure to keep my family updated with each step of our progress. We wrote old-fashioned letters by updated e-mail just about every day. The most touching thing I learned was that about that time, I found out that my Dad had been praying for me to find someone special along with my Mom, who had been praying for quite a while too. Then, I cannot count the many others that told me the same thing; a strong wave of prayers going up in one accord. Joseph also had people coming to him telling him of their prayers on his behalf. Things just started coming together. 

I first started writing to Joseph in September of 2011. Joseph came all the way from Arkansas to visit me in Texas the very first time on December 27th, and on January 4th we decided we wanted to get married. Mom and Dad said when you finally meet that person you are going to spend the rest of your life with things will happen so fast, and so they did! Joseph is a mirror of the list I made so long ago. God made sure to make him an answer to my prayer. 

I can remember praying all that time ago and having all those desires deep down in my heart, and now my time had come and for me time stood still! I could not believe my ears as I listened to Joseph speak the secret promises that only me and God knew about. Joseph is my special gift and I will forever be thankful for him and the joy he has been to my life. 

We were so very happily married in his hometown on June 9, 2012. 

Never give up on God. He is always faithful and he truly wants the very best for His children. Wait for His best!

Have a testimony to share about how God has written

(or is writing!) your love story?

Share it with us by emailing it to: thekingsbride@ymail.com

Heavenly Love Stories: Adam & Paige || pt 2

Adam and Paige | pt 2

http://ifmypeople.wordpress.com/

April 14, 2007

As told by Adam:

In 1965, The Beatles performed the song, “All You Need Is Love” on a live global television link that was watched by 400 million people in 26 countries.

Isn’t that sweet. “All we need is love.” Don’t you hear that all the time? What is it that is lifted up at weddings everyday? Love. Right? Sure, because…that’s all you need…right? WRONG!!!

John Lennon was flat-out wrong. Their statement, which has been more than embraced by our culture is in complete contradiction to the word of God. You can thank The Beatles for the sixties “love and peace” garbage. We saw how that one worked out. The truth is, though they meant to say it or not, The Beatles were declaring that you don’t need God to have peace. You just need love. Well, I would submit to you that you can have neither one without first having Christ!

Ecclesiastes 4:12 says, “And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.” I wish it would become a requirement for this verse to be expounded upon at every wedding. You see, we have bought into Hollywood’s version of love. You know, the one where Cupid shoots you with an arrow and all of the sudden you “fall in love.” Well, I’ve got news for you. If you can “fall in love”, you can “fall right out of love.” Love alone won’t cut it when the going gets tough. That’s why we need Christ as the centerpiece. Period.

Why have I started in this way? Because you need to understand that, though Paige and I are madly in love with each other, it was not our love that brought us together. Nor, is it our love that is keeping us together. It’s the Third Cord. When you read Paige’s story of how she was led to me, it is easy to think, “Awww…how sweet…the two little love birds.” But if that’s how you read it, you missed something. You see, though Paige and I have travelled completely different paths, there is one thing we have perfectly in common. Both of us fully surrendered our lives to God…especially our love lives.

Many girls reach an age when they decide they are ready to pursue the opposite sex, so they do so. Despite the cultural norm, Paige did something completely different. She committed herself to God and to praying for her future husband. She was putting her trust in God; that He would do what was right. Praise God that He did.

As Paige said in her article, I had never met her when she committed to praying for me. So, it was January 3, 2004 that she made this commitment. I can honestly say, that the year of 2004 was life changing for me.

On February 24th of that year, “The Passion Of The Christ” was released. In January of that year, my roommate at the time convinced me to go watch this movie with him. I was a big “Braveheart” fan, so I figured it would be good. He also talked me into reading the passion account from each of the four gospels.

I not only read that, but after watching the movie, I continued to read God’s Word. It wasn’t every night, but I read it pretty often. I knew there was something to this book. The movie had really opened my eyes and I no longer viewed Christians in the negative light that I had in the past. Oh, I knew that because they were emotional, didn’t dictate truth. But, I knew I had better check into it for myself.

Over the next year, God used several key things to open my eyes to the fact that I was lost in my sin and my only hope was Christ. Finally, in February of 2005, I crawled to the foot of a blood-stained cross and surrendered. Jesus saved me.

It wasn’t long after that that I met Paige. The first time we met, we shook hands and greeted each other and that was it. I hardly had the time to put much thought into it, but I knew something was different about this young lady. And, though she truly is the most beautiful woman in the world, it wasn’t her outward beauty that attracted me to her. It was her walk with Christ.

Over the next few months, we became good friends. I really needed a good friend at this point because, though I had been saved, I was still struggling with my sin. And I was fighting for my life with a ten-year-old drug addiction. I am so thankful that she did not let me know how she felt about me. Because, had we gotten involved at this period in my life, the outcome would have been devastating.

Then comes August 19, 2005. That night, as I was in a prayer meeting, I realized that I could not win my fight against my addictions. So I threw my hands up and gave it to God. That might sound trite to you, but that’s what I did. You see, I didn’t understand that God was the kind of God that overcomes sin. That night, I realized that my sin was not only hurting me and others. My sin was hurting God.

I truly surrendered all of my life to Him that night, and He truly set me free. The next day, I had to drive down to South Carolina for my step-brother’s wedding. I was so full of the Holy Spirit, I could hardly contain myself. It was on that trip, that God showed me that Paige would be my wife. He also, clearly showed me that I was not ready yet. As I was praying in my car, I realized that the only way a relationship with Paige would ever work is if I had the right relationship with Christ.

On the way back, I still remember buying Paige a little package of fireworks. That was the first thing I ever bought her. I was so excited to give them to her. I know…that’s cheezy, but I really enjoy giving things to her and I knew that she loved fireworks.

So, that was August of 2005. Over the next four months, God took me on quite a journey. I’ll make this brief. In October, I lost my job. I was designing shirts with alcohol on them and I knew I could no longer do that. When I told that to my boss, he fired me. Well, I had a new job (my current job) the next day. Let’s just say that God definitely blessed me on that one.

Before starting this new job, I went on my first pro-life mission trip to Wichita, KS with Operation Save America. I followed men of God like Flip Benham and Scott Heldreth down there and met up with saints like Mark Hollick, Rusty Thomas and John Reyes. Those are some special people.

I remember calling Paige from Wichita, telling her that revival had broken out. One of the high schools that we had shared the gospel to, came to our church that Sunday to protest us. Many of them got saved that morning.

On the way back, I spent a week helping Hurricane Katrina an Rita victims in Texas and Louisiana. That was pretty fun too.

It was trips like this, along with going to the abortion clinic with Flip, that caused me to grow leaps and bounds. Well, that and a heavy dose of daily Bible reading.

Finally, in December of 2005, I got clearance from God that I was ready to pursue Paige. Now, this was no audible voice or anything. I just felt the peace that I had His blessing.

So, the first thing I did was call my youth pastor. He and I were pretty close at the time and he knew that I wanted to do things right with Paige. I had listened to quite a few sermons on purity and I was fully convinced that God has a particular way in which he wants us to go about pursuing the opposite sex.

I asked Pastor Mark Miles if he thought I was ready and he said “yes.” After that, my plan was to talk with Paige’s father, Allen, one night at church. I didn’t have the chance to talk to him alone, so I decided to put it off until next week.

There is no telling how long I would have put it off. Though Allen is a really nice guy, I was still very nervous about talking to him. Finally, something happened that, as Paige said, lit a fire under my tail.

I saw another guy going after her, so I called Allen that night. Yes, I wish I had talked with him face to face, but like Paige said, we didn’t do everything perfectly.

So I called Allen and told him that I would like to pursue a future with his daughter. He gave me the green light, so I asked Paige the next day. Obviously, she said, “yes.”

Like Paige said in her article, we were learning as we went. I had listened to many sermons on purity. I first heard the idea of not kissing until marriage from a pastor in Seattle named Judah Smith. Instantly, I knew that that’s what God wants. So, we agreed that we would wait until we were married for that. And, yes, we talked about marriage early on. That’s a major difference between courtship and marriage. We weren’t just practicing for divorce. We knew, before starting anything, that this thing was serious.

Early on in our relationship, I had to come clean about something. I knew that I loved her and that I wanted to marry her, but I was scared to make any kind of commitment because, to me, love was something that could dissolve at the drop of a hat. I told her about this. I told her that I was scared to love her. I feared that her love for me might wear off one day. We committed ourselves to praying about it.

The next morning, I woke up humming a familiar tune. I wasn’t sure where it had come from. I was humming a verse from a Jason Upton song, which said, “What God has joined together, let no one separate it.” That verse continued in my head all morning. Then it hit me. That’s not just a song! That’s a Bible verse! It was incredible. God was showing me, through His Word, that He would not let anyone tear our love apart, as long as we made Him the center of our marriage.

From that point on, things were different. I not only knew that Paige was the one, but I trusted God that He would hold us together. Praise God.

Another revolutionary moment was when I first listened to Paul Washer. He laid out for me what courtship really was, and also what dating really was. I found out that, though we were doing many things the right way, we were also doing many things that could take us places we didn’t want to go.

So, we purposed in our hearts to do right and changed the way we were going about things. Our main goal was to not spend time together at my house. So, from then on, I would go to her house, when her parents were home. That way, we were keeping ourselves from dangerous situations, as well as abstaining from the very appearance of evil.

Let’s go ahead and fast forward to October 21, 2006. Around a week beforehand, I sat down with her parents and got their blessing to marry their daughter. But, just so you all know that I’m not some romantic, “knight in shining armor,” let tell you about the day I planned. This being the day I would propose to my wife. First, I took her to the Lexington Barbeque Festival to go witnessing. Then, I had to meet at the Mazda dealership to get rid of my sportscar, in exchange for a four door (I knew God wanted me to eliminate as much debt as possible before opening the next door in our relationship.) Then, it got a little more romantic.

I cooked dinner for Paige at my house. Yes, I know. We were alone at my house. Like I said, we didn’t do everything perfectly. But, in this case, even if I had the chance to do it all over again, I wouldn’t. The night, in my opinion, was perfect.

I had tried to conceal this night, by celebrating her birthday early. So, after dinner, I gave her a tiled mirror as a gift. At this point, I was more nervous than I had ever been in my life. I just went ahead and did it anyway. I knew I would trip over every word, so I prepared a poem for her. Toward the end of the poem, I got down on one knee and asked her to marry her. Of course, she said, “yes.”

Not long after that, we set the date to get married on April 14, 2007. What a wonderful day. I still remember that day sovividly. As I paced behind the altar, and the worship music was being played, I felt so close to God. I thought about the journey I had been on. And I knew that what He was about to join together, no one would ever be able to separate.

I cannot tell you the joy of sharing our first kiss on the altar. So, I won’t even try.

There you have it…our love story. Now one thing I don’t want you to take from this is that we are, in any way, boasting about what WE did to make this happen. Again, all we did was, in the best way we knew how, submit our lives to Christ. He did it. Not us. We are boasting in Him.

I started this article with a Beatles song, and I’ll end it with another song that is a slap in the face to biblical truth. There is a song, that they even play on Christian radio which talks about how God will bless the broken road that you travelled to get to where you are today. If you don’t mind, I’d like to show you the biblical way to look at our pasts. You see, Paige kept herself pure for me. And that was the greatest gift she ever gave me. Unfortunately, I did not do the same for her. For many years, I walked down “a broken road” full of sin, sexual immorality and rebellion. And, trust me, God never blessed it.

Just so you know, that “broken road” has a name. It is the wide road that leads to destruction. God will never bless that road. But here’s what He will do. He will take you, smash you to pieces, create a brand new you, and set you on the narrow road that leads to life.

So, I’m not going to sing about my past. I hate my past because it was full of sin. Now, don’t get me wrong, I have great family and friends from my past. I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about my sin. I will never boast about it. I am ashamed of it and always will be.

Let me finish with two very important lessons.

First of all, though God can wash all of your sins away and make you into a new creation, there are still consequences for your actions. I have scars that will never go away. So, if you are living in any kind of impurity, and think that you can just confess it to God and it will all go away, you are mistaken.

But, on the other hand, I know that for many of you reading this, it’s too late. You’ve already stepped across that line. Here’s my message to you. God is a God of redemption. When you come to him, poor in spirit, and mourn over your sin, he can take your life of ash and turn it into a thing of beauty. He will, of course, smash you to pieces first. But when He is finished, you will be a new creation. And all things will be brand new. So, though John Lennon penned that “all you need is love,” he was dead wrong. All you need is Christ…

photos by korihoffman.com

Have a testimony to share about how God has written

(or is writing!) your love story?

Share it with us by emailing it to: thekingsbride@ymail.com

Heavenly Love Stories: Adam & Paige || pt 1

Adam and Paige || pt 1
http://ifmypeople.wordpress.com/

April 14, 2007

As told by Paige:

Growing up, when all my friends were dating in middle and high school…let’s just say the guys were not knocking down the door to get to know me! I was awkward, very insecure, and incredibly shy. While those aren’t godly attributes, I do thank God that guys weren’t just dying to talk to me…or this could be a very different story. I had crushes, like every other person. I got disappointed. And most of the guys that did approach me, well, lets just say I was FAR from interested in them. God kept me from having my heart broken. even before I learned what courtship was all about. Even though all my friends who dated, seemed to be having a blast, it sure wasn’t pretty when they broke up.

Let’s fast forward to when I am sixteen ( I think). My youth leaders did a series on courtship. It was a curriculum called “A Match Made in Heaven” by Richard Crisco. It discussed the dangers of dating and how dating is actually practicing for divorce. I won’t cover all the material because there is way too much. But, it was then that I realized that I wanted God’s best. It was hard. I didn’t necessarily commit to the courtship process, but I tried my hardest to keep my heart only for my future husband alone.

In the years that followed, I grew much as a person. I slowly came out of my shell. I was growing in the Lord, and accepting who HE made me to be. I wasn’t supposed to be like all the other girls. He made me different. He made us all different. It is so liberating when we realize this and just learn to be ourself! I devoured resources that encouraged purity. I will list them at the bottom if you are so inclined to read…for yourself or for your children.

So now to the really good stuff! Pay attention to the dates. It was the first Saturday night in January 2004. January 3rd to be exact. At that time, we had prayer on Saturday nights at the church. I was praying, and suddenly, the Lord impressed it on my heart to pray for my future husband, right then. I had no idea who this person was. I wasn’t interested in anyone, and I didn’t know of anyone interested in me. It was strange, but I prayed anyway. I had read about people praying for their future spouse on a regular basis. There had been times when I prayed about it, if it popped in my head, but nothing consistent. But, this night changed everything.

For the next two days, I pondered why God had me pray for this man. It was a feeling of urgency. So two days later, on January 5th, I began to journal heavily about all that I was dealing with. This journal saw many emotions. This journal saw a lot of growth. I was committed to this man I never met. I prayed for him as often as I thought about it…which was probably close to every day. Not fancy prayers. I would just breathe prayers of protection of his life, or that God would help him resist temptation. Things like that.

As I wrote, God showed me other things. It wasn’t just about praying for him. I needed prayer, too. I surely wasn’t wife material. There were things in me that God had to do before I could hope to be ready for the amazing thing called marriage.

So all of 2004 goes by, and nothing. No knight in shining armor for me! Then 2005 begins and…same thing. One night, I think late February, I was introduced to a visitor at our church, a guy named Adam. It was just kind of a quick handshake and “nice -to-meet-you” sort of thing. He begins attending our church on a regular basis. He is a nice guy…not to mention good looking…but that’s about it. Then he starts talking to me. Nothing major, just friendly stuff. I notice that he seems to actually LIKE talking to me, and sought me out to talk to me. I liked this. But, there were some problems. He had just become a Christian in February and was still battling an addiction to painkillers. It was tough, because in my heart, I really, really liked him.But, I knew a relationship with him just could not happen. Not then anyway.

In August 2005, things dramatically changed. Adam was miraculously delivered from his addiction to drugs. But, it was much more than just deliverance from bad addictions. He grew in the Lord by HUGE leaps and bounds. I really don’t think I have ever seen a transformation, with my own eyes, quite like Adam. He began to read the Bible everyday. Since that time, I think he has missed only one or two days of reading since 2005! Incredible. While I watched all this, I was so excited! I started to see qualities in him develop that I desired in my future husband. But, I still knew I had to give it time. Growing up in church, it was so common to see people passionate and on-fire, only to have them go back to their worldly ways and never see them again. I had to know that this change was real, and wasn’t a fleeting passion. We continued to grow as friends. Hardly anyone knew of my feelings toward Adam, though my flesh wanted at least him to know. I think the only ones who knew were my mom, and one close friend who I knew wouldn’t share this with anybody. I felt it was important to keep quiet about it, because the last thing I needed was some “friend” telling me to tell Adam how I felt. Or better yet, having that “friend” tell Adam how I felt. So, I continued to wait.

This next part is kinda funny. January 2 (I think) of 2006. I am attending a church meeting. My pastor introduces me to another young man and is speaking highly of him. Basically, this guy wanted to know if he could call me. This gentleman did not attend our church, but I knew of him. I did give the guy my phone number, but felt weird about it. While flattered, the whole time, I was thinking about Adam. That’s who I wanted! But, since he hadn’t voiced any feelings or anything to me, I couldn’t think of an excuse not to (though I could think of a few now!). Adam was also attending this meeting, and as it turns out, was in earshot of this conversation. This sorta lit a fire under his tail.

The next few days were very conflicting for me. This guy would call. He was nice and all, but I really wasn’t interested. And I didn’t know how to tell that to him, in a nice, honest way. One of my many flaws, is that I beat around the bush…and the person on the receiving end doesn’t seem to get the point. My heart agonized, because I did not want to, in any way, lead this guy on. But, then I thought, maybe I should give this a chance. Maybe this is who God has for me, and not Adam.

Then comes a really good day! January 5, 2006. Adam and I met up for lunch at the yummy K&W! We had met for lunch frequently prior to all of this, so this was not unusual. Earlier that morning, my mom told me it was going to be a good day. So I was expecting something. Not sure what…but something! We eat all of our lunch, and nothing. Just normal conversation. Finally, we both are getting to leave and head back to our jobs. I can’t remember exactly all he said. I think he just blurted out “Um, what are you doing Saturday night?”. Haha! Unfortunately, I really did have plans that night. But was quick to say maybe another night. When I told him, he then proceeded to tell me that he would like to begin a relationship with me and that he called my dad the night before to ask his permission! I’ve heard about young men asking the lady’s father for permission to marry their daughter, but not to begin a relationship. It was very honorable of him to seek my father’s permission before entering into a relationship. I was on cloud nine! The whole day I don’t think I could stop smiling. Shortly after, I realized the significance of this day…it was 2 years to the DAY that I began journaling about him! I was blown away! Talk about timing! God’s timing.

So begins our courtship. Like I said before, we weren’t perfect, and if we could go back, there are things we would do differently. But, early on we were committed to purity. It was awesome, because Adam was actually the one who thought we should save our first kiss for the wedding day. He was not interested in just dating. From the beginning, marriage was in mind. It was so great to not be physically involved, because we really got to know each others personalities really well. We were (and are) very different, but we learned how those things can complement each other.

My birthday is on November 7th. But, this particular year I was going to be away the on weekend of my birthday. Adam wanted to celebrate it early. We decided that we would get together to celebrate it on October 21.

He made dinner for me and gave me this beautiful mirror that I LOVE! Then he hands me this piece of paper and wants me to read aloud. I start getting a hunch at whats going on, but try not to go crazy in case I was wrong. The Paper read :

To My Beautiful Paige

To my beautiful Paige, I give my heart.
To explain my love, where should I start?
First of all; the day I saw you I fell in love.
Now, I know God sent you, like a gift from above.
Knowing you love me is such a blessing to me.
God unlocked my heart, but you were His key.
Knowing that I can love you and you’ll love me back;
I promise my love for you will never grow slack.
What a journey it’s been, falling in love with you.
I’m so much in love, I hardly know what to do.
I think about you all day; morning, noon and night.
I imagine our future what a beautiful sight.
Speaking of our future, I want to do things right.
I could hardly wait for this wonderful night.
I went to your folks and they said O.K.
Now I hope I don’t trip over the words I say.
Just the thought of this moment makes my blood pressure rise.
So just put down this paper so I can look into your eyes…

I wish I could remember verbatim what he said at this point! I know he told me that he loved me and asked if I would marry him. He then opened a box with an incredibly gorgeous ring in it! Of course, without even seeing the ring my answer was a big, fat “YES!” But, let me tell you about this ring. Us women love to look at pictures of engagement rings and wedding dresses and all that good stuff. I liked the princess cut, but I really liked the emerald cut diamond ring. I never told Adam what I liked, but I did tell my friend (now sister-in-law) what I liked and so he found out through her. It was a stunning ring.

After that ring was placed on my finger, he proceeded to tell me something I didn’t know about emerald cut diamonds. For that particular size and cut, the diamond has to be very pure, or it will be easy to spot imperfections. He added, that knowing this reminded him of me and my desire to remain pure! Wow! I was so blown away. What a beautiful gift!

Shortly after, we decided on a wedding date of April 14, 2007. During our engagement the Lord strongly revealed some areas that we needed to change. When we compare ourselves to others, its easy to justify certain actions. But when the Holy Spirit convicts us, no matter how good we think we are, we had better obey. Adam had his own home and had a roommate living there. And we hung out there a lot of the time. Again, we were strong and really would just hang out and talk or watch a movie. But, there are a few things very wrong about this. 1 Thessalonians 5:22 says “Abstain from all appearance of evil”. In 1 Corinthians 8 it talks about not being a stumbling block to others. It just didn’t look good, me being there with him, many times alone. We were involved in youth ministry and how would this have looked to them? We may have been strong and in control of ourselves, but this was sending a message to them that they could do this with no problems as well. By the grace of God alone, we were strong. But, had we had one weak moment, things could have changed dramatically. It’s like playing with fire. I am not saying you can never, ever be alone. But there are principles in the courtship process that allow for that in a safer environment then your boyfriends home or apartment. My mom had even warned me about it not looking good, even though she trusted us, but I just shrugged it off (outwardly), though it was still deep in my thoughts. The kind of thoughts you just tuck away and choose not to think of. But in January of ’07. God dealt with us and Adam decided that I shouldn’t come over anymore. He would start coming to my house ( I lived with my parents) a lot more. It’s hard when you know you have sinned against God, but such grace when you repent and do things completely the right way!

FINALLY- April 14th arrives! This was a perfect day in every way. I wasn’t nervous. I was sure and really happy! Of course, there was excitement and a little nervousness about the wedding and all those people watching me, and just the fact that I was getting ready to vow my life to another person. But I was sure and I knew this was the man that God designed for me to be with. The weather was perfect. Things ran smoothly. Well except for one part. I had read of a couple who had a footwashing in there ceremony. If you recall in the Bible. where Jesus washed the feet of his disciples as a symbols of servanthood and humility . We wanted to symbolically say, ” I will serve you”. It was a beautiful moment except for when it was my turn to wash his feet, trying to put a dress sock on a damp foot wasn’t easy! You had to be there….it was just funny! But it was a perfect ceremony. We exchanged rings, and vows. ” The pastor then pronounces ” Mr. and Mrs. Adam Tennant….you may kiss the bride”! That long-awaited kiss finally came! A beautiful kiss! Such a good kiss, I asked him for another one there at the altar! It was surreal and I felt like I was floating! God truly had the best for me in every way. Be encouraged to wait on the Lord and not take things into your own hands.

    

And that’s the beginning of our journey, The romance didn’t die at the honeymoon, either. He is still so loving toward me. We aren’t perfect and are still learning so much about one another. But I have to say it has been something I would do all over again in a heartbeat! He is an amazing man and I love him to death!

    photos by korihoffman.com

Have a testimony to share about how God has written

(or is writing!) your love story?

Share it with us by emailing it to: thekingsbride@ymail.com

Heavenly Love Stories: Jason & Katy || pt 1

Jason and Katy || pt 1
http://110surrendered.blogspot.com/

May 28, 2011

As told by Katy:

Well, each story has a beginning and so I thought I would share ours :) Lets go back to March of 2010.

On March 14th my world had turned upside down..in a bad way. I had been in a courtship relationship for a little over three months and some things had come to light in the young mans life and my Dad (who is my hero) made the decision to break off our courtship. I was devastated.

All my life all I had wanted was to be a wife and Mother. I asked God why He would give me my dream only to snatch it away. In the weeks that followed the Lord began to show me. He showed me that my entire life I had allowed desperation to lead my heart and my life. I had looked to guys for my fulfillment.

Marriage had become an idol.

I was so afraid at the thought of possibly being alone for the rest of my life. But one night the Lord gave me this thought one night: "What if the Lord is calling me to be single for the rest of my life?"

I cringed.

He couldn't be. Could He?

Then I realized what an idol not being alone was to me. And I knew I had to make a decision. Would I surrender my entire life to the Lord's service even if it meant being alone? I thought. And prayed. And probably cried. And then purposed in my heart to serve my Jesus no matter what. That is when I started taking steps towards nursing, because I knew that I could be independent and serve the Lord in that way. I had never wanted a career. But that day when I decided to move forward in my independence I surrendered my hopes and dreams to the Lord. I surrendered my future and stepped out in faith. Alone....for the first time in my life, with only Jesus by my side.

No prospects. No possibilities.

I was heading to the mission field to serve my Jesus in my singleness and I was super excited about it! And nothing was going to stop me!

Ahem. The Lord's ways are not our ways.

One of my girls that had been going to my girls Bible study invited me to a Bible study she had been attending on Sundays. I really did not want to go anywhere near the male species. But I decided I could not stay away from contact with the male species forever. So I swallowed my fear and went.

March 28, 2010. Exactly two weeks to the day my courtship had been broken off. So I get there. There were a ton of people there and I didn't know anyone! So I just sat there and waited for study to start. The leader had gone to pick up someone and so we were waiting for him to get back. Finally he got there and he walked into the room. Jason Hollands. My heart sank. He was very handsome in the white button down shirt and tan pants.

Katy you do not even look at him.

He had a purity ring on that looked like a wedding band. Oh wow that is really neat. Oh snap! Katy cut it out. Do not look at him.

And wow was he a spiritual leader. I sat there amazed as he started the Bible study. The one thing that made the most impact on me was how he prayed. Oh how he prayed.....and it wasn't a show. It was just him coming before his Heavenly Father and having a talk with Him. And it was anytime. Anything. No matter how big or how small. And as we went around the circle, at the very end, he prayed for me. Just me. By name.

Katy stop it! You are going to be single. And happy. And serve the Lord. IN A SINGLE WAY!

I cried the whole way home and went upstairs and determined to not ever go back to Bible Study again. Never. In fact I was not going to ever going to go around guys again. I was considering being a nun! So Mom came upstairs and asked me what was wrong. And finally I admitted that I was just terrified about making the old mistakes with allowing desperation to guide my heart and life and I just knew somehow that if I kept going back I would possibly develop a mindless crush on Jason and I just did not want to even have to struggle with guarding my heart again! I was going to serve the Lord. As a single woman.

Well, Mom ended up telling me that yes I had to slay the old fleshly tendencies to let desperation to lead my heart but hiding was not going to cut it. So, she said to not initiate anything with him. I really clicked with his younger sister Sarah (we talked for hours the first Bible study) and she said to just focus on my friendship with Sarah. So I kept going to Bible Study. On April 4, 2010 I wrote this in my journal about Bible Study:

"Please help me to jealously guard my heart, Lord. Please help me to never go to Bible study just because there are guys there Lord. I truly do just want to be fed spiritually Lord. The reason I am praying about this is because there is a guy there that, if I went back to my old pattern of going from guy to guy searching for completion (out of desperation), I would be tempted to start obsessing/dreaming/crushing about. Jason Hollands is the leader there and very godly BUT I do not know him. I have decided, as a part of slaying this old, fleshly tendency, that I am not going to initiate anything with Jason. I will be friendly but not go out of my way I guess. He friend requested all of us kids today and so I accepted him. Tonight I was on face book and all the sudden he started chatting with me. It was so nice. We just talked about You and encouraged each other in You. I really think we could be good friends but, as of right now, I don't see it as anything more because I DON'T KNOW HIM."

Oh, if I had only known.

So I did not initiate anything. At all. And as the weeks and months went on and we started spending more and more time together I was friendly but did not initiate anything. Jason told me later that me not swooning all over him is actually what intrigued him about me. A few times he thought: What is wrong with her?

We continued to get to know each other, and I started to have feelings for him. And I started to pray that the Lord would take the feelings away. But strangely it didn't work. For months! So when did it start to change? Well...you are going to just have to wait for part 2 :)

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Heavenly Love Stories: Jason & Jessica

Jason and Jessica

September 12, 2009

As told by Jessica:

I always hoped that God would bring me a knight in shining armor one day who would sweep me off my feet, and we would live happily ever after. God did, in fact, do just that, but it wouldn’t have been possible if I had not saved myself for my man. Sexual purity, yes that is important, but really I’m speaking of purity as a whole in relation to men.

I know many girls who are sexually pure, but emotionally they are soaring high or crashing in rocks around this man who they have no realistic reason to believe is to be their prince charming. I am sure most, if not all girls, have been in this situation before. Don’t waste your emotions. Remember, there is only ONE man for you. If he is undetermined, then act as if such is true. God created women to be emotional creatures, and that is a very good thing. You just need to use your emotions for things that matter, and save your special emotions for the man you will marry one day. The more you give yourself, emotionally or physically, to a man, the more you are taking away from what you will give your husband one day. I made a commitment to God when I was 15, to save myself physically and emotionally for my husband, to the point of not kissing before my wedding day, and guarding my heart against my emotions.

When I was 17, I asked that God would put me asleep toward men until he was ready to bring me my husband. I didn’t want to worry about it. I didn’t want to be interested. I didn’t want to waste my emotions on someone before the right one came along. As it turned out, I didn’t have a long wait.

The first time I saw Jason he came to a Bible study at my house. A friend brought him as a guest. I was 18. I had heard a lot about him from friends and family. I introduced myself and made cordial conversation, but didn’t think anything else about it. Apparently, he didn’t either. It was months before he came back, and he had forgotten all about my existence. I noticed he was nice this time. He noticed me as well, but that is as far as it went. My Dad invited him to lunch, and Jason obliged. My Dad is a CPA and I worked in the office with him. When Jason came in for lunch, I was the receptionist in the office. I generally was able to send people in to Dad with little interaction required from me, but Jason stayed 3 hours after lunchtime talking to Dad. Whenever Dad got a client, Jason would come out to my desk and talk to me. Then he was back in Dad’s office. I thought this was very strange as Dad frequently had lunch appointments and they never stayed over 3 hours like that. Probably half of the three hours Dad had a client and Jason was talking to me. Somehow we had plenty to talk about, and I discovered I had a lot more in common with this 30 year old man then I had suspected. Before he left, I asked for his email address. I was going to put him on our update mail out list that I handled for my family. He asked for mine in return and I thought, “Well, I didn’t mean it like THAT. I was just going to add him to my updates. I’m sure he felt like he had to ask for mine out of courtesy since I asked for his.” How surprised I was to get an email from him that very night. “Hmm, that is interesting,” I thought, “I’ll wait a few days to respond.”

Wait we did. For about 5 months we emailed a couple of times a week, and saw each other seldom. I was certain that he was just like all the other normal guys. It was just a matter of proving it to myself by waiting for time to expose his true character. Of course we would never work. Always assume he’s guilty until proven innocent. My sister was getting married. By that time our emails were still about twice a week, but beginning to get very deep in content. I had deep conversations with a lot of people, so I tried not to think anything about it. A friend from out of state was down for the wedding, and she asked, “Who is this guy who is so interested in you, watching you, and following you around all the time??” I was thinking, “Who is she talking about?? Surely she doesn’t mean Jason. I cannot even tell if he likes me or not.” Yet, she was speaking of him. I thought I might like him a little too, but I didn’t know. I wasn’t going to waste my emotions, so moving on… Another 3 months passed, and he started inviting me and members of my family to his place to do things with him occasionally.

The next 3 months were very interesting. He started emailing every night, and I started seeing him about every couple of weeks. We had been friends talking for almost a year, and I was getting very impressed with this man. His character, the things I had seen from him were admirable, and I couldn’t find one important thing on which we disagreed. We had talked about a slew of issues, and somehow he had such different views that aligned with mine perfectly. My Dad and he were good friends, and Dad seemed to approve of him entirely. One day while I was praying, I had an overwhelming feeling that I needed to pray that God would be making my future husband into a man of prayer. I prayed for him often, so that wasn’t such a big deal. A couple of weeks later, I was listening to Dad and Jason talk. Dad asked Jason what God had been teaching him about lately. Jason said that he was learning about prayer. He had been studying and reading books about prayer and trying to increase the depth and consistency of his prayer life. I was shaken because I realized that things needed to stop now if he was not the man for me or it would be very difficult for me to save my emotions. I prayed that God would send something immediately to show me if it wasn’t right, and that he would burden me and him about it and make us not be able to sleep, that we would be so disturbed if we weren’t right for each other. I didn’t want to develop an emotional attachment that couldn’t last. I prayed that God would cause whatever circumstances necessary to draw us together if we were to get married. I felt so much distance from Jason I felt like it would have to be something big if that were to happen, and I wasn’t really expecting the stick to fall that way.

To my amazement it was something big. A week later, Jason’s grandpa died suddenly. Everyone was heartbroken and traumatized, but somehow this is just what God used to bring us together. Whatever that wall was in Jason fell, and we were suddenly connecting on a much deeper level. I had so much peace about it, but still we had to discuss many things before I was any deeper connected. I think we were both ready to settle questions we had or drop things completely. It was Christmas and we found ourselves talking about issues that mattered to us in our future family. “If I were to marry someone I would want him/her to want to raise a family in this way, if you disagree with that, we need to move on.” I think I had a lot more questions and concerns than he did, but somehow they all got resolved. What we assumed might be the end, was instead a delightful conversation.

I was for certain mentally that our views were similar and that he would make a good husband and father. It seemed we would be compatible…But I was not quite ready to say I was for certain that Jason was God’s man for me. I knew that I couldn’t marry somebody if I wasn’t for sure he was the one God had for me. I would be under his authority my whole earthly life, and a wrong choice would be a very bad mistake. A couple of more months passed. During this time, we hardly saw each other, but continued to email every night. One night I was driving around town on some errands, and I started praying. For some reason I was praying for “us” and not for “me”. I got very annoyed with myself and asked God to show me once and for all if he was the one for me. Suddenly, I realized that if I were going to marry someone, I would really have to love them, like Christ loves me. I began to pray that if we weren’t to be married, I would grow stale to him. I also asked that if we were to be married, God would fill me with HIS love for him. I know marriage is hard and you have to have the love of Christ for that person if you are going to make it with flying colors. I thought that if God were to give me His love for Jason, it would be a gradual thing, and I wouldn’t notice it for at least a few more months. Even as I was still saying the prayer, I felt God place His love in my heart. I did! It was an overwhelming feeling! I began to cry and say that I loved him. The whole car had a different feeling in it of the Spirit. It was incredible! That was it! I was sure he was the one. I knew that after we got married, I could never convince myself that I had made a mistake.

Two more months passed and nothing happened. My sisters and Mom began to voice their uneasiness that I was too emotionally involved when he hadn’t committed to anything. I tried to thwart their concerns, but it was in vain. It was now April and seemed like it had been an eternity of dodging questions. Four months after our “marriage talk” we were still not a couple. I wanted my Dad to be involved and approve of my marriage partner. We had talked about it all along, and I was always seeking his advice about what boundaries I needed to set and the things I needed to do or not do. He was a huge blessing in trying to figure out where I needed to be. Also I wanted him to give his approval to me and my future spouse by giving his blessing and consent to our marriage when the time came. I also wanted to get his blessing for even being in a relationship. We called it courting, because it wasn’t anything like regular dating. We thought it deserved a special title to set it apart. Jason agreed that is the way it should be, so now I was just playing the waiting game. My birthday, April 18, was the blessed day. Jason came, hung out all day, and brought me a diamond cross necklace. In the middle of the afternoon he asked Dad if he would go with him for a walk. I knew what that meant! I could hardly wait for them to get back. That day began our courtship and it lasted a grand total of 2 months. This was exciting because I was allowed to go to his place on some weekends and be with him and his family. Before this we hardly ever got an opportunity to be together. We also started talking on the phone, which was a new privilege.

In June, Jason asked me to be his wife and we were official engaged. We were married 3 months later on Sept, 12… 2 years after we met. He is the most romantic, God- fearing man, and the perfect match for me. We have been married over a year now, and have a baby boy. I’m so happy that God has made me a woman, and that I have the wonderful responsibility of helping Jason and raising godly children. I pray that I will follow God all the days of my life, and that my children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren will do the same.

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Heavenly Love Stories: Caleb & Anna

Caleb and Anna

July 7, 2007

As told by Anna:
Our story started when I was 3 years old and Caleb was 4 years old. My family found a little stray puppy in our yard that was starving and we took him in. He had a heart shape mark right in the middle of his forehead so we ended up calling him Valentine. I LOVED that dog. I have always been more of a cat person but this dog was mine (or so I thought). I’m not sure exactly the reason why we couldn’t keep him but I know my parents put an ad in the local paper for a “Free Puppy”. A few days after they put the ad up, a young couple with a little boy about my age came to look at Valentine. They were looking for a dog that was good with children. My parents told them how good he was with kids, so they said they would take him. I cried and cried over that dog, but my parents said that he was going to a good home with people who would love him.

Several years went by…I went through middle school and then finally made it to high school. I was absolutely terrified. Older kids everywhere and me an outcast. I watched how girls my age would change boyfriends like they would change their socks and I did not want to be like that. I never dated during my high school years, I only had a couple of crushes that I regret even wasting my time with. I remember praying that God would help me find someone He thought was right for me. Someone that He had already picked out. I thought I had in mind what I wanted him to look like or be….but the Lord had something else in store. Something MUCH better then a silly high school crush.

One of my close friends was dating this guy named Caleb. He was super funny and super nice.…and best of all, he was a Christian. He always made me smile. I just thought he was a pretty good guy and she was lucky to have him. I remember going with them to the movies or a youth outing and loving hanging out with him! I remember thinking I wish I could find someone like him! They dated a couple of years…then they broke up. I already had him on my Instant Messenger so we started to talk more after they broke up….just about life in general. This was the summer of 2003.

We talked online for about 3 months, then we started calling each other. I remember talking one night online and he said “Do you remember ever having a dog named Valentine?” I said yes. How did he know?! He said that he was the little boy that ended up getting him. I was in shock! How awesome was that?! He told me that Valentine had saved his life after they got him. Caleb was playing outside and Valentine all of a sudden bit his pants and started dragging him away from where he was. Come to find out he was dragging him away from a rattlesnake that was about to strike Caleb. If he hadn’t have had that little dog around that snake would have bit him, and no telling what would have happened to him.

After a few more months, we gradually started hanging out more. When he came over to my house for the first time, my parents absolutely LOVED him. He and my dad would get into Bible talk with each other…just for my dad to know where he stood and what exactly he believed. He would come over for 30 minutes or so and we would just talk or he would invite me out to watch a movie. We were just having a good time. I considered him to be one of my best friends. I could talk to him about anything! Plus he was a good Christian guy, which was hard to find. Most guys just said they were but never lived it. Caleb actually lived it. Plus, his family was so sweet! They would invite me over for supper or to just come over. He told me they had never done that with any of his friends before. I felt special!

On February 14, 2004, I was working in my office and the door opened and this woman came in with the most beautiful arrangement of flowers in her arms. Purple irises, red tulips, baby’s breath….it was HUGE. I had NEVER gotten anything like this before in my life! I asked in shock, “Is this for me!?” She said yes! I saw an envelope and looked inside to see a letter. It was so sweet and genuine about how much he loved being with me, how he cared about me and how he wanted to get me my favorite flowers and it went on and on. A LOVE letter for me?!?! Wow, was all I could think. I was absolutely terrified to think he wanted to be more than friends with me. I didn’t want to end up like everyone else I knew….dating then breaking up, then dating a new guy, then breaking up. I wanted to give all my love to the one guy God had picked out for me. Not share it with random guys for “a limited time only”. I had to trust God in what He was doing in our relationship. I didn’t need to trust in how I felt. If I had gone with my feelings, no telling what could have happened. Probably nothing good! No one had ever done anything like this before for me. I had no idea how I was going to respond to him. I ended up calling him…scared to death. I thanked him and thanked him for the beautiful flowers.

We talked several times after that. On March 5, 2004. He officially asked me out on a date. I was super excited and nervous! He took me out to Applebee’s and then we went to see a movie. It was so much fun! I knew he was the one for me! Then on March 9, 2004, he came over to my house for supper and he officially asked me to be his girlfriend. I was beaming and so happy! My parents were thrilled!

We had been dating for almost 2 months when he told me he loved me. What a surprise to me! I had never heard those words before (besides from family of course) and it was so natural sounding saying it back.

In July 2004 he interviewed for a job about an hour and a half away. Of course he got it. We prayed whether or not we should stay together in a long distance relationship. We decided to stick to it. God had a plan for us! We dated for 2 years like this, only seeing each other three or four times a month. It worked out though…we would call each other whenever one of us was heading to bed. We would talk until one of us got sleepy…telling each other about our day, what different Bible study groups he was going to, just everything in that day crammed in an hour or so. Every day we did this for two solid years. It was way worth it! I loved hearing more and more about him. Both of us also started our own Christian blogs during this time. It was awesome reading some of his posts. He was so inspirational to me.

One afternoon, on May 25, 2006, we were talking on the phone after he had gotten off from work. Before I knew it, he was pulling up in my driveway. I was shocked and very excited! I rushed to my room to change clothes…and while I was doing that he was asking my dad for permission to marry me. Of course my dad said yes! Caleb was like another son to him! I went into the living room and I noticed my parents acting weird. Caleb asked me to close my eyes, so I did. I was wondering what he was up too. When he had me open them, there he was on one knee asking me to marry him! I was so shocked!! My parents were beaming and poor Caleb was shaking like a leaf! I said yes while tears of joy came streaming down my face. It was the best moment.

On July 7, 2007, we were married in front of 200 plus of our friends and family. It was so beautiful! I am so glad that I saved all of myself for my one true love! I hope and pray other girls will do the same. It is so worth it! Make God the center of your relationship and marriage. Trust in Him and not on what you “feel” is the right thing to do. Waiting for the right guy is hard to do but when he finally comes it will be well worth the wait!

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