Category: Uncategorized

Written By: Jessica Sharp

A love story.  Each part important, each part unique.  Truth be told, our story is quite simple.  It involves a broken girl, a homeless boy, a social media site plus God’s redirection and timing.

On December 11th, 2007, I wrote a letter to God.  It was a prayer, or more so, a plea.  In this letter, I jotted down all of the qualities that I wanted in a guy.  After I finished, I took the paper and slipped it into my nightstand for safe keeping, though the memory of it slowly faded away.  I was only 17 at the time, but I’d already seen my share of good guys with bad intentions and bad guys with even worse intentions.  I had been rejected and thrown away many times.  I was broken, and I was weary.  Yet, deep down, I still believed that God would eventually direct me to someone worth giving my heart to.  I clung to that tiny sliver of hope.

Let’s flash forward to 2008.  If there’s one thing I’ve learned throughout the years, it’s that trusting in God means trusting in His timing as well.  While I spent most of the year finding my way back to Jesus, Garrett was fully depending on Him to get through each day.  Many failed attempts at finding work had led him and his dad to the city I’ve called home my entire life.  They bounced around from hotel to shelter and eventually were forced to live out of their car.  His dad wanted to head back north in hopes of finding employment.  But, for some reason, Garrett felt the need to stay longer.  Little did he know that reason would be me.

One night in December, as I logged onto Myspace, I began to do a little searching.  Having never done something of this nature before, I felt an odd urge to give it a try.  I checked the filter boxes — Male.  Christian.  Non-smoker.  Non-drinker.  Tampa, Florida.  I scrolled through profile picture after profile picture until I reached his.  A black and white photo of a cute guy in a fitted cap.  Garrett Sharp.  Even his name seemed to draw me in.  I clicked the link, read a little bit about him and decided to send him a friends request.  I didn’t think too much about it, until he responded a day or two later.

“Hey, you’re cute! Do I know you?” were the words that popped up in my inbox on 12-11-08.  We began messaging back and forth.  Each day, I found myself opening up to him more.  He was different.  We talked about God and how He’d influenced both of our lives.  We also talked about our values, the things we believed in and the things we disagreed with.  One night, as we were conversing, I was reminded about that little letter I had written months before.  I quickly searched through my nightstand and found it.  Then I had a notion to check the date. 12-11-07.  I couldn’t help but get emotional after realizing it was exactly one year to the date I had written the letter when we began exchanging messages.  After 3 short weeks, we made plans to meet each other in person.

It was New Years Eve 2008.  He said he would be waiting for me in front of the Apple Store in the mall (I made sure that it was a public place).  I was a nervous wreck when I caught a glimpse of him waiting there.  Emotions surged throughout my body, then courage kicked in.  I inhaled deeply, slowly making my way towards him.  Everything else began to fade; each step growing easier than the last.  Finally arriving where he was seated, I took the seat beside him.  He looked over at me and smiled sweetly.  With a simple “Well, hey there, Jessica” he had stolen my heart.  I smiled back and managed to say hello back.

We ended up spending the entire day together and rang in the new year sitting on the beach, watching as fireworks lit up the sky.  He asked me to be his girlfriend that night and less than 4 months after we started dating, he proposed to me.  He had quickly become my best friend and I couldn’t imagine life without him.  Clearly, I said yes and we tied the knot on May 15th, 2010.  We’ll be celebrating our six year wedding anniversary this year!  Never once did I imagine I’d stumble across a Myspace profile, send a friends request and end up marrying the person on the other side of cyberspace.  But, that’s exactly how our story unfolded and I have God to thank for working it all out in His timing.

~ Jessica

Jessica Sharp is an aspiring web designer + writer who happily resides in the Sunshine State with her husband, Garrett.  She’s fuelled by cups of strong coffee, fresh air, good music, and the grace of God.  Feeling the need for a creative outlet, she started her blog, Wonder Riot, back in 2012 after her father lost his battle with cancer.  In her spare time, Jessica enjoys binging on sci-fi entertainment, taking photographs, and being outdoors.  You can find her around the web at @jmariesharp.

 

Written By: Cassandra Harrsion

Our love story started out in a not-so-typical way.  I was a sixteen-year-old girl living in California, who had just enrolled in an distance learning college program.  Austin was eighteen and living in Illinois pursuing his degree in Business Administration.  We were both active on an online forum for our college where students could share study tips, prayer requests, and encouragement.  In the year that followed, our online paths kept crossing in little ways.  Nothing significant.  He was just one of my fellow students.  Not even a friend.  He was “that guy,” you know, the one who builds replica lightsabers and quotes movies, and who published the online newsletter that I was Editor-in-Chief of.  I had noticed that we had similar interests (example: Star Wars, and Pixar, and intelligent conversations, and Jesus) and I wanted to get to know him better.

About a year after we first met online, Austin decided to run for Student Body Present, and he asked me to be the Chairwoman of his party.  We started an online chat room with a few friends to discuss the campaign, but we ended up talking about so much more.  We would visit daily; sometimes to have long conversations, other times just to share a little thought.  We shared our lives with each other and were there for each other.  Our friendships grew and flourished faster than I could have imagined.  We talked about family life and our studies and movies, and then we delved into theology and politics.  It became our safe place to vent and anytime one of us experienced anything particularly frustrating, that’s where’d we go.

I wanted these “online college friends” to know me for who I really was because it’s all too easy to make yourself seem perfect online.  I wanted them to know me as the girl who is a sinner and saved by Grace, the girl who doesn’t have it all together.  I was real about my flaws and my quirks and the mistakes I made and the failures I experienced and they were too.  Quickly, our motto became “No Masks” and we were intentionally being real and honest with each other.  It took deliberation, but we made it through the Conversations-That-Should-Have-Been-Awkward-But-Weren’t and our friendships emerged even stronger on the other side.  The simple, beautiful “everydayness” among us continued to thrive and, almost two years after we first all met online, it was time for us all to meet in person.  Other students on the forums were arranging a gathering for fellow students from all over the country.  Specifically, in April in Virginia.  This was it.

I first met my husband face-to-face on April 1st in the living room of a college friend in Virginia.  There was no love-at-first-sight.  Nothing magical.  No fireworks.  Just two friends meeting in person for the first time.  The entire rest of the week was amazing, though, and I will always remember it as one of the most incredible and most memorable weeks of my entire life.  I remember the beautiful hike along the Potomac River, the evening we watched Star Wars together.  The night stuck outside in the pouring rain.  The mangled musical attempts at midnight.  The smiles and genuine laughs.  The honest conversations.  The late-night Starbucks.  The exploring of Washington D.C. and Mount Vernon.  The first time I played Ultimate Frisbee.  The ukulele improv.  The encouragement and the fellowship.  I remember how I felt at the end of the week realizing that our friendship was one of the most valuable things in the world to me and how hard it was to say “goodbye” and go back home.
Two years after I started college, I officially finished my Bachelor’s of Arts degree in Humanities and was immediately left in an in-between season that I hadn’t anticipated.  I wasn’t sure what exactly to do with myself or my time and even though I knew that it was time to start pursuing my Biblical counselling studies, my courses didn’t start for several months.  That summer was immensely challenging for me.  As much as I valued my friendship with Austin and my college friends, I decided that I couldn’t allow that friendship to dictate the direction of my life.  I wanted to see them again, but I also began to question if or how they would fit into my future life.  No longer were those people at the forefront of my mind as I shifted gears and started pursuing other paths.  I was drifting in another direction completely until five months later and I finally got to see them all again.
At that second gathering, we made ice cream, took awkward selfies, explored the zoo, and
listened to quirky music on long drives.  Somewhere in the good-night texts and the early
morning just sitting and talking by the cornfield.  Somewhere in the first-airport-hug and the “I miss you” text message.  Somewhere in the midst of that week, I found myself starting to really begin to hope, for the first time, that Austin and I could be something more than friends.  After getting home from that gathering, life was still complicated.  And I was frustrated because I was the one making it complicated.  Things were so much simpler when I viewed Austin as just a friend.  Now that the little seed of hoping for something more had started to grow, it was harder to stay focused.  It was all in my head, I tried to convince myself.  He saw me as a friend, a sister, and that’s how it would always be.  Time to move on.

My parents were amazing throughout all of this.  Countless evenings were spent sitting on the couch with them, telling them both about what I was feeling and thinking.  About what I was hoping.  About what my fears were.  They lovingly and patiently counselled me, and guided me, and helped me to consider everything objectively and maturely.  I am so thankful that, over the years, our relationship had cultivated such trust and openness, and I will always be thankful for their willingness to listen and to be there for me, and for the wisdom both of my parents shared with me throughout that season.

I had started to love this guy who had become my best friend and I couldn’t do anything about it besides wait and trust and hope.  It was a complication that I didn’t need so I began to earnestly pray that God would take away what I was feeling for Austin because it wasn’t beneficial or productive for the season of life I was in.  It was a distraction and it wasn’t appropriate.  Before too long, God answered my prayer of asking Him to take my desires and conform them to His will.  I prayed that He would give me the strength and trust to hold my friendship with Austin with open hands.  After months of saying these prayers over and over, I was finally able to fully surrender my will to my Lord’s.

I was no longer interested in anything other than just a simple and wonderful uncomplicated friendship with Austin.  Happily, I embraced the fact that I wasn’t in a relationship unlike so many of my friends.  It seemed like everyone was getting engaged and married and I most certainly did not want to be counted among them.  Marriage was for sometime later in the future.  Not now; I was too busy.  Work was good.  Life was good.  Perfect.  Beautiful.  Uncomplicated.  I didn’t want anything to change.  Little did I know then that, right at the exact same time when God finally answered my prayer and took away any hint of a yearning for something more, He was starting to work on Austin’s heart too, doing the exact opposite.

It was an unsuspecting spring day.  The day Austin called my dad and asked if he could get to know me better with the intent of marriage.  When my dad told me, I was in a state of complete and utter shock.  I had hoped to hear that for so long and yet I felt … absolutely nothing.  No excitement.  No joy.  Just confusion.  Great.  I had grown to being not interested in pursuing anything like that at all.  I had spent hours praying that God would allow me to focus and not have any feelings for Austin (or for anyone, for that matter) and He had answered my prayer and took all of that away from me.  Obviously, I knew I wanted to get married one day, but I hoped that day was still several years away.  The next week, he arrived with our small group of college friends to visit my family in California for a week.  It was a wildly unpredictable week and it took every effort on my part to keep my emotions from spiralling out-of-control.  I knew that we had a lot of ground to cover together, but I grew more confident that we would be able to tackle all of the discussions as friends and I looked forward to when we could start talking on the phone regularly and get to know each other better in this new context in which we found ourselves.  I knew that it wasn’t going to be easy, but I had hopes that, in our quest to become better friends, our intentional conversations would lay the foundation for something more.

After he left, though, doubts crept their way into my mind.  I had a hard time accepting everything that was going on.  Because of my plans.  Because of what I wanted.  Because I didn’t feel ready.  Because … me.  Because of me and my selfishness, and me and my not trusting.  I spent a lot of time in prayer and I did a study of Philippians with my life-long friends, and it was so clear.  I was complaining and I wasn’t thankful and I was discontent because I thought that I knew what was best for me and I thought that I knew better than God.

Who am I to question God’s timing?  Obviously, He thought that I could grow more and glorify Him better and become more sanctified through this relationship with Austin than I could have if I was still very much single and unattached.  God’s timing is perfect and He said that this was the right time.  Even if I didn’t think I wanted this or didn’t want it now.  After that I finally began trusting Him again to guide me through this new season the same way He had guided me through every other season before.  Even though I was scared and even though everything was so new and I felt incredibly skeptical, I trusted that God knew what He was doing.  I planned to honour God with it and hold my relationship with Austin in open hands.  Open because I am willing to accept the blessing He chose to give me, but keeping them open acknowledging that it is His to take away if that was His will.  Even though that gave me peace that I didn’t have before, I still wasn’t confident that it would work out.

Austin and I continued talking on the phone for hours a couple evenings per week.  We talked about so much over the course of such a short time.  Theology, family traditions, personal convictions, quirks, ideals, our strengths and weaknesses… we already knew each other so well as friends but we were working hard to know each other on a deeper level.  Questions were asked about fears and hopes and I found myself understanding Austin better than I ever had before and I was sharing things with him that not many people knew about me.   We read through The Meaning of Marriage by Timothy Keller and I filled my moleskin with copious notes.  I was ready to see him again.  Over the summer, I travelled to Illinois and spent a week with his family.  It was during that week that I finally began to feel at peace with everything and realize that I really did want to marry this guy.

Two months later, in August, he was in California.  It was a beautiful summer day and we had plans to spend our evening at the beach and have a bonfire once the sun set.  The overcast skies had spots where the sunlight streamed through in the most magical way.  When the light started fading, my best friend asked if I would go on a walk with him and that’s when my best friend asked me to be his wife.  Up until the day this whole crazy thing became For Sure, I had been praying that God guide us and just reveal whatever His will was for us in this.  Some times had been easy.  Other times not-so-much.  I had been battling insecurities and fears since the very beginning but this made one thing very clear.  I didn’t want to have to face those fears without Austin by my side.  I was ready to let down all the barriers I had put up and I wanted to take them down with him.  Getting married at 20 was never part of my plan, but God knew what I needed better than I did and when the shock and surprise settled to reveal absolute joy and happiness I knew with all certainty that saying “yes” was the best decision I ever made.
After an eight-month-long, long-distance engagement, we said “I do” at my church in California in a beautiful ceremony that I still look back on as being a perfect day.  It went way too fast, but that’s all right because that one day was just the beginning of something else wonderful that I get to experience every single day for the rest of my life.  It’s almost been a year now, and I love being married.  It’s so much more wonderful that I thought it would be.  Austin shows me every day what it means to love someone fully, and truly, and sacrificially, and I am so excited to continue to grow closer as husband and wife in the days to come.

~Cassandra
Cassandra is a sinner saved by Grace and was born and raised in Southern California.  After getting married to her husband, Austin, she moved with him to Chicago. They have been married for ten months and she works as a blogger at The Poppy Anthology  and Box Office Manager at a local performing arts theatre.  Cassandra views life as a beautiful adventure and loves exploring, natural living, old books, warm drinks, good food, striped socks, geekery, open windows, Disney movies, road trips, and interesting people.

Photo Credit:
Proposal \\ The Great Romance Photo http://thegreatromancephoto.com
Wedding \\ Peter Mahar Photography http://www.petermahar.com

Written By: Caroline Harries

As a little girl I dreamed of the day of becoming a wife and then a mom.  My reality has been much different than I had planned.  In my early and mid 20’s, I became the ’27 dresses’ girl.  While all my friends were getting married, I continued to get my heart broken.  I wasn’t sure when I was going to finally meet the man the Lord had for me.

As always, God brought someone in my life who was more than I could have asked for or imagined.  You know the list that you have in the back of your mind of what you want in someone?  Well sure enough God exceeded that.

My now husband, Colby, and I met in October 2009.  At the time we were going to the same church, but since I had been in other relationships, I had never attended the single adults group.  However, that changed and we started running around in the same circle.  Colby was looking for volunteers for a service project he had and I was more than willing to help!  In fact, I already had my eye on him and made sure to write down my name and number to help volunteer for his event.

After exchanging a few emails, conversing at a church retreat, and going on our first date, the rest really is history.  We connected immediately and it wasn’t too long before we knew we wanted to marry each other.  11 months later and Colby surprised me by proposing.  He also invited all of my friends and family to celebrate with us.  Another 5 months after that and we were saying “I Do”.

My love story was nothing like I imagined it would be.  It’s not how I wanted it, but it’s so much better.  God knew what He was doing and I am so glad He hand picked such a wonderful man for me to marry!  This April we will celebrate 5 years of marriage.

Blessings,
Caroline

Caroline blogs over at In Due Time, which she started back in April of 2012.  In 2011 her life changed for the better when she got married to her sweet husband, Colby.  Besides working as a financial analyst and blogging, she enjoys spending time with Colby, travelling, watching football, and attending various small groups and Bible studies.  She is a health nut, who enjoys working out and eating healthy.  She has a passion for those who are going through trials, especially those who feel like they are waiting on God to answer their prayers.  Blog Facebook Instagram Pinterest Bloglovin Twitter

Written By: Brittany Putman

Ten years ago when I graduated from high school, I was a completely different person.  I had always been the quiet one in my group of friends and I didn’t really care if that ever changed or not.  I was going to school to be a teacher in a nearby town, dating my high school sweetheart, and under the assumption that I would never need to leave my safe little town.  I thought I had it all figured out.  Boy was I wrong.

I had a plan for my life.  That was probably my first problem.

But none-the-less I went to school, worked hard and I just knew that once I graduated from college that I would teach in the local school, marry that high school sweetheart and that would be my life.  But of course, that’s not what happened.

As my senior year of college came to an end, I found myself without that high school boyfriend and zero job prospects.  It seemed as if each day my plan was slipping further away.  Then, for some reason still unclear to me, I decided that I would just go on a trip after college.  I mean, why not?  It was perfect timing and it would probably be my only chance to see the world.  Plus I really felt like God might want me to take a trip; to do some good while I figured out what to do.  I really don’t know what I was thinking, or if I was thinking at all because this was so not me but I went anyway.

And so that’s how I ended up in an orphanage in the Philippines in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.  While I was there I met children who had never celebrated their birthday before and entered homes that we wouldn’t let our dogs live in.  I met men and women who were passionate to share the Gospel and others who were hungry to hear it.  I experienced things that you just can’t experience while living in the United States, and I’ll never know if I did any good there or not but when I came home I found myself a totally different person.  I was ready to follow God’s plan for my life instead of my own.  Let’s face it; my plan wasn’t very good in the first place and my dreams were far too small.

I spent 3 months in the Philippines and then 1 more year at home before I made the move to Louisville to study missions and pursue a career as a foreign missionary.  I didn’t have a clue what I was doing but I was following God and that was all that mattered.  Once again, I had a plan and I just knew that this was the right path for my life to follow.  I mean, why wouldn’t God send me overseas if I was willing to go?

Once again I was wrong.  I spent two years in grad school before my money ran out and I started teaching full time.  I loved my teaching job so very, very much!  But at the same time I felt like my life wasn’t going anywhere.  So again I prayed that God would lead me and send me where He wanted me to go.  I decided that I would spend two more years in Louisville waiting on God to show me what to do and then I would either pack my bags for home or the other side of the world.  I know, it sounds crazy but those were my two options!

Once again God’s plan was not my own.  At the beginning of my second year of waiting in Louisville, my roommate suggested that I try online dating.  I know that sounds crazy and dangerous but she met her boyfriend (now husband) online and so I figured why not.  I didn’t think anything would come of it and decided that I would never actually meet someone from the internet but I signed up anyway.  One month later I met Brian.  Six months later we were engaged.  It all happened so fast that I nearly missed it!

Now, we have been married for ten months, we live in a small Kentucky town right on the Ohio River, and I finally feel like I am where I am supposed to be.  My plan was nothing like God’s plan.  Instead of my safe little hometown, I am 300 miles away.  Instead of teaching, I am working in the local church.  Instead of ministering to others overseas, I am sharing my stories and the love of Jesus through the internet.

I used to be the quiet girl who would gladly blend into her surroundings and never made a fuss.  Now I’m sharing my story with whoever will listen.  God’s plan for my life is so much better than my own and I know that I better not get too comfortable because I never know when God will move me again!

~Brittany

Brittany Putman has been married to her husband, Brian, for almost a year.  She enjoys taking walks with her husband and dog, reading good books, and practising her cooking skills.  She lives in Kentucky and works as a Church Assistant and Freelance Writer.  She is a child of God striving to become a Proverbs 31 wife.  She frequently writes about practising grace and celebrating love as a newlywed at Grace, Love, Life.

 

Written By: Kendra Stamy

When a couple meets for the first time, they often say they had an instant attraction to one another. Not so in the case of Jason and I.

He had moved back to Ohio just 2 weeks previously for a job at the age of 20. I was 19 and disillusioned with life in general not believing I had any hope of breaking away from family sins, and even if I could, boys weren’t to be trusted.

I first saw him at a church youth gathering sitting next to a favorite cousin of mine and laughing as they prank texted some other guy. I remember wondering who that dorky looking guy was and then dismissing him entirely while talking with and enjoying time with my friends.

He really doesn’t even remember seeing me.

The next weekend at another youth gathering I saw a friend of mine and went to tell her hi. She introduced me to another girl who also became a great friend of mine. In the course of our chatting and getting to know each other she suddenly turned to the side a bit and introduced her cousin from out of state to me.

Jason. The dorky looking guy was Jason, my new friend’s cousin. We talked some that night, I found him funny and learned that he actually talked more than I!

Since he now lived pretty close, I saw him frequently and my “sister friend” Renae met him too of course. She picked on him and teased him a lot, leading me to believe she liked him. Consequently I would invite him along when when Renae and I were doing stuff, and she would invite him along just as frequently.

This continued for over 6 months and Jason also began coming down to the farm and helping out over the summer weekends becoming good friends with my brothers.

Then Renae began dating a guy from work. I asked her about Jason and she laughed saying he was crazy about me not her! ???

Ummm Okay.

I stepped back a little from the friendship part and saw what apparently everyone but myself had seen all along! But I wasn’t sure I was interested.

Porn, unfaithfulness and tobacco use were common in the men of my family sadly enough. I didn’t trust men/boys and wasn’t sure I could.

But I liked Jason, he was smart and funny, he made me laugh and drove me just a little be crazy. So I began “testing” him.

At my request my brothers tried to interest him in porn and other such evils. My brothers and I were close even though they knew I disapproved and would actually do what I asked.

As well I would covertly and methodically go through his truck and belongings when he wasn’t around. I never found a lick of stuff that shouldn’t be in a young man’s possessions and when I asked my brothers about his response to porn they grumped saying he “preached at them” and told them it was trash!

Exactly a year after we first met we began dating. Through the huge upheaval and eventual reconciliation my family went through that year, he was always there.

Even when I tried to run away and even hurt myself he was there for me and was my steady.

Because of the issues in my family, and partially because I knew my own mind. We talked marriage from the start.

Little things like “do you want lots of kids” and bigger things like a man’s place vs woman’s place in the home. Since we were raised very opposite we also had discussions over homeschooling, alternative medicine and of course purity.

After nearly a year of dating he asked me to marry him. It was random and not at all romantic. It also took me by surprise. I sat there a minute before blurting out “yes, but not right now”!

He never asked me again, but 3 months later we sat a date and planned a wedding.

Our wedding, as all weddings go, went perfectly. The cake falling? Well that just happened and I remember laughing quite hard over that thing. My MIL made cakes for years and the first cake she ever “lost” ended up being her son’s!

Jason and I are not perfect, however we are perfectly imperfect for each other. If there is any lesson in our love story it would be this:

God makes beauty from ashes, and your darkest times often result in the greatest blessings.

Bio: Kendra is a Wife, Mommy, Homemaker and Blogger. She believes God should come first in all things, next her family and finally the rather unexpected ministry her blog has become online.

She writes at A Proverbs 31 Wife where her mission is “To Uplift, Inspire, and Encourage Wives and Homemakers”. Her tasty recipes are made with real, simple ingredients, and her money saving tips come from years of experience.

Mrs. Kendra Stamy
Writer at: A Proverbs 31 Wife
Consultant for: Lilla Rose

Written By: Chelle Wilson

Sitting beside My Beloved (and yes, that is what I call him…) at a local trattoria on my recent birthday, I realized that we’ve celebrated more of my birthdays together than anyone else in my life, including my parents.  We belong together.

We were introduced as teenagers by a school friend at a church picnic.  I was 15.  Nearly 40 years later, it is my prayer that my husband would be ever captivated by my love.  We are fortunate.  Not only was he my first love, he is my love still.

I am grateful that ours was not a straight path to marriage.  Though he was my first serious relationship, one that spanned high school and college, I had a full single life.  I dated, had friendships and learned how it felt to be valued.  I learned the things that really mattered.  Although I didn’t articulate it, I measured every relationship against my first because My Beloved set a remarkably high standard (he still does).

I encourage single women to be single.  To learn to love yourself, to be adventurous, responsible, and to know that choosing to join your life with someone is a sacred choice, one to be made soberly.  Love is marvellous, but “being in love” can make you a little crazy.  Crazy, as a life choice, should be avoided at all cost.

Because were were children when we met, we still talk about our second 1st date.  I’m not one motivated by dreams, but after years of neither thinking of nor seeing him, I clearly remembered dreaming about him.  I called his parents’ home the next day.

After a delightful chat with his dad, I asked him to pass along my regards and perhaps my number.  I expected that he was living on the opposite coast and that we might run into each other at some point in the future.

As I often tell people, God wanted us to have babies. He’d recently ended a serious relationship (I think within days of my dream), and was living and working locally.  He returned my call the next day.  2 days later, over dinner during that “second 1st date”, I realized I’d never stopped loving him, and the way he made me feel was the feeling I wanted for the rest of my life.

It still wasn’t a straight path to marriage, but a week before the 13th anniversary of the day we met, we pledged our love and our lives before God, friends and family and started our lives together.

A few years ago, My Beloved and I were discussing The Five Love Languages, by Gary Chapman.  An “acts of service” man, I am blessed after all these years (nearly 25!) with someone robed in humility, who is both a good shepherd and a good steward.  Sober and serious, he has a natural affinity for taking care.  And no, he doesn’t need an S on his chest…he expects to do (well) what he does.

According to Chapman, for those who love via acts of service “they are thinking, “Cut the talk.  If you loved me, you would do something…”  My Beloved is not that brusque, but that is who he is and how he loves.

God knew I needed someone who would treasure and secure me, giving me just what I needed to spread my wings and soar.  As is the case with all things of God, he was made for me, and I for him.

I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine…

Song of Solomon 6:3 (NIV)

Written By: Katie Reid

Two steps forward, two steps back.  We come together ‘cuz opposites attract.  It ain’t fiction just a natural fact.  We come together ‘cuz opposites attract.
– ”Opposites Attract” by Paula Abdul

Adam was a junior in high school when I was in my first year of college.  I was looking for an older guy, so he didn’t grab my attention, although we went to the same church.

When Adam graduated he enrolled in the same college that I attended.  We ran in some of the same circles and interacted more regularly.

I was in a season where I was tired of being burned by guy friends.  I usually wanted to be more than friends but they had their sights set elsewhere (a.k.a. interested in my friends).  So I resolved to stop having close guy friends and wait for Mr. Right.  One of my friends pointed out that meeting Mr. Right might be difficult if I didn’t let guys get close.

Adam is a physical touch kind of guy and, because of my history in the guy department, I was annoyed by the way he hugged on the ladies.  He was being friendly but I interpreted it as flirty.  I had a self-righteous attitude that he did not find attractive.

We were like oil and water.

Imagine our friends surprise when we began dating years later.  We had become best friends—apparently enough time had passed from my anti-guy declaration and I let my guard down.  We were real with each other—not trying to impress the other.

My uptight personality helped motivate him and his laid back style helped me unwind.

Adam hung out at our apartment quite a bit.  One night my roommates and I were quizzing him about which girls he had kissed.  I remember wishing that I was one of them.

God removed the blinders from my eyes and I realized how good-looking Adam was.  He had seen me at my worst and still stuck around, which was quite an attractive quality.

After this revelation, I was convinced that I not only wanted Adam to kiss me, I wanted him to be my boyfriend and hopefully husband too.

Adam had been in a unhealthy relationship, and gotten his heart broken, prior to our friendship.  He was determined not to date unless it was to Mrs. Right—his future wife.  So about a year after my realization that he was “the one”, and stalking him a little, he came to a decision.

He had been seeking the Lord for a clear answer on whether I was to be his wife.  He wanted the answer to be “yes”, yet he wanted to know for sure.  While mowing the greens at the golf course where he worked, Adam felt like God was flashing a neon sign overhead that said, “YES! YES! YES!  Katie is the one.”

The day after I graduated from college, while sitting on a blanket under the dark sky in his parent’s front yard, Adam asked me to be his girlfriend.  My response?  “YES!  And I’ll bet there are lots of hearts breaking in town tonight, now that you’re taken.”

Our short dating season was far from perfect.  We went further physically than we should have and I often compared our relationship to the lofty ideals I read about in courting books.

Adam wisely said to me one day, “You know our love story is our story. It won’t be like someone else’s, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a good one.”

God has used our struggles to help other couples in similar positions.  Of course we wished we would have chosen to do some things differently, but we are sincerely thankful that God has redeemed that time.

We are now able to speak into other couples’ lives and challenge them be more successful than we were.

We’ve had the privilege of witnessing some great marriages and delight in passing on the advice and example that we’ve been given.  One of the ways Adam and I started doing this more is through our Wednesday night Periscope videos.

We entitled them, “Stop! Hammock Time”.  We have a little too much fun sharing marriage tips, being goofy and encouraging others to connect with their spouse as we broadcast from our hammock.  We’d love to have you tune in.  You can watch the replays here: Katch.me: katie_m_reid

We do not have a perfect marriage, no one does, yet we seek to grow closer to the Lord and one another with each passing year.

I am so glad that God transformed our oil and water relationship and blended our lives in a messy yet iridescent display of His grace.

I love you Adam!  Thank you for sticking by me and for helping me not take life too seriously.  P.S. I don’t mind your hugs at all anymore.  😉

With Grace,
Katie M. Reid

word weaver | heart singer | hope speaker | photo taker

Bio: Katie M. Reid is a tightly wound woman, of the recovering perfectionist variety, who fumbles to receive and extend grace in everyday moments.  She delights in her hubby, four children (and one on the way) and their life in ministry.  Hot or iced tea and cut-to-the-chase conversations are a few of her favourite things.  Through her writing, singing, speaking and photography, Katie encourages others to find grace in the unraveling of life.

Connect with Katie at katiemreid.com, and on Facebook and Twitter.

Author of “Extra Salt on the Fries” a memoir piece found in Tales of Our Lives: Reflection Pond by Matilda Butler (available on Amazon).

Written By: Sarah Travis

In 2008 Jason read a book on a bus from New York to D.C. called “When God Writes your Love Story,” by Eric and Leslie Ludy and by the time he stepped off the bus was praying for God to write his love story.  At that time I was a teacher in Scotland doing short-term missions in my summer breaks!

The Meeting

Love at first sight…?  Maybe second or third!

My first glance at Jason left me thinking he was rude…his first glance at me left him thinking I was a crazy woman driver blocking a driveway on a ranch in Tennessee!

His first words to me a few moments later, in the company of others, were jovial and enquiring…my first response was full of sass!

Despite thinking he was rude (he really wasn’t!) something stirred in my heart following the cowboy youth ministry volunteer meeting we were both attending and I knew I couldn’t let him leave without saying goodbye.  Our first conversation lasted 2 hours and ended with us exchanging phone numbers.  Upon arriving home, he told his mother he had met the woman he was going to marry and I had a similar conversation with my host family.

The next evening we spoke on the phone, mostly about our love for Hillsong worship music.  The following evening we went on our first date…and the rest, as they say, is history!

But it’s a love story…His-story.

The Courtship

Jason and I were both 31 when we met and, although we had both been in relationships and made our fair share of mistakes along the way, had never been married or had children.  Neither of us had a wishlist for a spouse but we certainly knew what we were not looking for!

I had been in the United States for a little over 8 months when we met and was due to return to my home country Scotland in just six short weeks.  The weekend prior to that early August evening when we met, we had both been away from our normal surroundings and had both had our own encounters with the Lord in which we had once and for all surrendered marriage to Him.

From the beginning of our relationship, it was different.  Christ was at the centre and most times we spent together were at one or other of our churches, home groups, or the ministry at which we had met.  We worshipped together.  We served together.  Two weeks that first meeting we sat in my host family’s home with our Bibles open, discussing marriage Scripture, and praying over the Lord’s leading for us to pursue His answer to one question…was this the one?

With my departure drawing ever closer, we continued to spend time together whenever possible, and by the time I boarded the plane to Scotland in September, Jason had flights booked to visit and meet my parents…actually stay in their home for a week — no pressure!!!

October brought him to visit me in Scotland and my parents to fall in love with him!  He immediately felt at ease as we all spent time together as if we had known each other for years.  Each day we ventured out to explore another part of my homeland.  On his last day, as we strolled along a street in St. Andrews hand-in-hand, I said to him…”Can you just leave your hand here with me?!” He replied: “No, but I am leaving part of my heart.”

The Engagement

I was able to visit the U.S. in November for a few weeks so in those early months we were not apart for long.  Although we had agreed not to say “I love you” until we knew if it was real love leading to marriage on that first evening when we sat with our Bibles open, love was growing deep in our hearts.  Each goodbye grew more painful and each time apart longer.  Apart for 2 months over Christmas and New Year, I was then able to visit him again in February which is when true love led us to profess our feelings and become engaged.

We would have married the next day if we could!!  However, there was the slight problem of me being Scottish.  We gathered together the requirements for the first stage of the immigration process over the next 2 days, then it was time for me to kiss my fiance and board a plane, unsure of when I would next see him.

The Foundations

Our engagement lasted as long as it took for my Fiance VISA to be approved, which was 9 months, and during that time we saw each other for 10 days.  Where our love story differs is that he wasn’t able to pick me up to whisk me away for romantic meals.  There were no walks, movie dates, or Sunday lunches with family.  The way our love grew deeper and deeper was through our communication.  We spent hours each week on the phone (thank you Magic Jack and Skype!), we wrote daily emails, and mailed cute cards.  We sang together on the phone, and discussed Scripture and the sermons we had each heard.

Our entire relationship during our engagement was based on two things — trust and communication.

Not being together was a test.  Temptations that never existed before presented themselves.  We were being tested from all angles but trusted each other’s faithfulness.  Not being together also removed the idle chit-chat, small talk aspect of being on a date.  We couldn’t discuss where we were, who we saw, what we were doing…we actually had to find topics of conversation daily for 9 months!!

Trust and Communication — the foundations upon which our relationship and our marriage is based.  Although I much prefer the years we have now been married and together almost every day, I give thanks for that time apart.  Those months laid a foundation so deep that when tried and tested, it has not faltered.  Our foundations have held us up as we have faced uncertainty, moves, and hardship in our short 3.5 years of marriage.  Our basis of trust allows me to submit to his leadership knowing it comes from a heart seeking the Lord’s will.  Our basis of communication allows us to have an open book and difficult conversations, speaking the truth with love and a sincere heart.

Let Love Lead

Trust and Communication — two of the foundational aspects of our relationship with the Lord.  We are called to trust in Him with everything.  We are called to let Him lead the way and guide our hearts.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
and do not rely on your own understanding;
think about Him in all your ways,
and He will guide you on the right paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6

We are called to communicate with Him at all times–in all things–always.
“pray without ceasing” 1 Thessalonians 5:17

I believe a marriage is it’s strongest when we let love lead.  “The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” 1 John 4:8.  When true love, God, is leading the way, we can trust in Him and so in His leading, as we submit our thoughts and feelings to Him, for it is He who determines the best path for us: “A man’s heart plans his way, but the LORD determines his steps.” Proverbs 16:9.

Let ‘God is Love’ Lead!

~Sarah

About Sarah:

Sarah Travis is from Scotland, but immigrated to the U.S. in 2013 to marry her husband, Jason.  She is an author, speaker, and inspirational Bible teacher passionate about helping women believe their acceptance and belonging in Christ, not in the world.

“The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps.” Proverbs 16:9 ESV

You can follow Sarah on her blog, on Facebook, and on Twitter.