This Man of Mine...{Our Love Story}

When I think about the man God has given me to share this life with, I'm amazed at the miracle of us, where we are, where we've been, and where we're going. And the most amazing part of all--how we came to be!

About 11 years ago, I was sitting in front of a computer (probably wasting time) in a college computer lab, surfing the internet, when I came across a Christian penpal site. The internet was a fairly new thing back then, at least to me, and I was intrigued at the prospect of having a penpal from another country and culture and thus I stumbled upon this site. After playing around a bit, I decided to try the keyword "Pentecostal", (since that's what I am) just to see if anyone I knew would pop up. That's the first time I saw his name, and never in my wildest dreams did I imagine how that one click of the mouse would effect my (or his) life.

We began to e-mail one another frequently, as he was newly saved and glad to have someone who was raised in church to ask questions of. He was dating someone, and I had no intention of meeting my life-mate "online" :). He was so sweet and genuine, and such a good listener. I began to look forward to his e-mails and sharing with him when I aced (or failed) a test or when one of my essays was read aloud by the Professor in English class. We shared frustrations over bad professors and he gave me a few pointers on how to get through Statistics without losing my mind.

After some time (I don't remember how long), the person he was dating broke it off with him, and he wrote me a long e-mail, pouring out his heart and hurt. Not long after, he asked if he could call me, and I gave him my phone number. The first time the crazy guy called, he did it at 5:00 on a Saturday morning on his way to work! My Mom was like "Who in the world is calling you this early in the morning?" I am not a morning person, either, so it's a wonder he ever called me again after that!

My family was a little taken a-back by the situation, and didn't really know what to think about a guy I met on the internet calling me. But soon my Mom was having conversations with him on the phone, and he won her over pretty fast ;).

About a year prior, I had made a commitment to the Lord that I was not going to date again until it was the "one" He had chosen for me to marry. I was weary of the ups and downs of dating, and just didn't have the energy to go through another break-up. So even though John & I were not even dating (nor had we even broached the subject), I began to seek God for direction about our relationship. I told Him that if this was not His will, to let me know and stop things before they progressed any further. Through it all I felt a peace.

After a few months of writing letters, e-mailing, and talking on the phone, we finally exchanged pictures. Wow! He was so cute, I wondered if maybe I was being dooped! Could a guy possibly be that great and that good-looking, and could he possibly be interested in ME? I must be crazy!!

One night during one of our phone conversations, he mentioned he had an aunt who lived close to a nearby city that we often visited to shop and go out to eat and that he was going to visit her for the weekend. After I told him how close I lived to the city, he suggested we get together and go out to eat or something. I couldn't believe that we were actually going to meet in person, and was nervous that we wouldn't have the same connection as we did over the airways. Of course my friends and family were a little worried, but also excited for me, and when the day came I was accompanied by my Mom, my sis-in-law, and another friend. Poor John got a little more than he bargained for that day, and I will tell you all about that meeting in the next post....

Stay tuned! :)