The Meeting Place

It was December 24, 2006.  Christmas Eve.  Sunday School had started, but that did not stop my husband from coming.  He had been fighting with the Lord on whether he should attend or not, for he did not want to come to our fellowship just to meet girls.  A little side note here…some friends of his had told him that one of the elders at this church they had visited, had a daughter about his age.  Finally, as always, the Lord won.  When my husband walked in the door, literally, every body stopped and stared.  My hubby voiced that he thought he would come and join us, which of course, he was welcomed to do.  The whole lesson was started all over just for him.  At break time, everyone surrounded my husband.  Everyone…being my nephews and niece.  I hid behind my dad, but I knew immediately that the “guy” that just walked in, was the one that my Lord had chosen or me before the creation of time!  While we were talking, he asked about the game square we had on the floor for our AWANA program.  Because he thought it was something we had for cult purposes, we laughed and explained it to him what it was for.  After learning the true use, my hubby explained that if it had been for cult related purposes, he would have turned around and left….just as fast as he had walked in!

I had stated I knew immediately that my hubby was going to be my hubby the moment he walked in the door.  “How did you know?”, you ask?  Well, I am happy to tell you.

When I and my sister were little, our dad told us that we should start praying for our husband’s salvation because he was probably alive “right now”.  Both my sister and I took it to heart, and both our husbands were saved soon after we started praying for them.  However, I did not take to heart what our dad told us until I myself, was saved.  Afterwards though, I started praying with all my heart.  The result…my husband came to know Christ when he was 16 years old.  I then was led to pray that he would bring my husband into my life.  Each time after that, when we had a visitor come to church, I asked the Lord:  “Is this the one?"  The answer was always "No”.  Until….I met my husband’s best friend.  Oh, yes, the answer was in a way, still the same, but in a way, different.  Instead of being “just "No.”, it was “No, but soon."  So, I kept waiting, and praying.  Then Hubby came.  I of course asked the question again.  This time…."YES!”

When I told my hubby the above story, I asked him:  “What would you have done if I had come up to you that first day, and said that I was your future wife?"  He responded by telling me that he would have thought I was crazy, and backed off, and said hello and good-bye…all in one sentence.

To this day, we joke about it, and…probably always will.

We started courting in April of 2007.  To spare you the long story, and to avoid disrespect of others involved, I will shorten it up….

Our courtship was very controlled.  My hubby and I, once we got to know each other, were not allowed private time together.  It was so controlled that all our emails had to be Carbon Copied to our chaperone, and if our conversations were not heard, we would have to repeat ourselves.  Oh! And….we were not even allowed to talk to others about our relationship…even with our immediate families, and when asked, we were not to lie, but not divulge either!  What!?  How on earth do we do that!?  We got to the point where we just were totally hones with others who were interested.  The end result was me having to leave that controlled situation and live with my brother and sister-in-law for the 6 months leading up to our December 2008 wedding.

Needless to say, it was an awkward and frustrating time, but exciting at the same time!  Because we knew that we were doing what the Lord wanted us to do!