Our Story-Part 2

Upon coming to the realization that my life wouldn’t be over if I didn’t get married, I started praying about serving overseas and looking into various opportunities. Looking back over the last year, another thing I’ve learned about relationships, is that there are two people involved. Two people who may be coming from very different walks of life. Sometimes timing is everything...just because one person is at a point in their life where they have let go of the past and desires they might have, it does not mean the other person will reach that place at the same time. God often has a way of bringing people together when the time is right for both of those people. 

For Philip and I it just happened to be around the same time, but I’ll get back to that. In February I remember that Philip had recently gotten back from working with the orphanage in Zimbabwe. I messaged him asking how the trip went and was suprised to see how quickly he was responding and how long his messages were to me. It didn’t take me long discover that Phil wasn’t dating anyone anymore. We kept talking more and more, we talked all about missions and God, our dreams, our likes and dislikes and our testimonies.

After about a week of writing back and forth we FaceTimed and we talked for at least an hour. We continued talking about the same things we were writing about and never ran out of things to talk about. Then I started to get a little weirded out. We almost seemed to have too much in common. It seemed too good to be true. I was already wondering if he was the man I was going to marry, but I kept telling myself that I was being ridiculous and there was no way that I could know yet. But looking back now I realize that I did, I was just scared that I was jumping ahead of myself.

As we kept talking, we only found more in common. I think one of the reasons we knew so early on was because of being long distance. We didn’t do things like go to the movies or play games with friends, all we could do was talk...and so we did. We talked and messaged for hours. Up until Philip told me that he was starting to have feelings for me I wasn’t sure if the feeling was mutual on his end. I think he wondered the same thing. But it was. Only a few short months later we started dating the weekend he came to visit me for my graduation, and I guess you could say and the rest is history!

After we started dating and talked more...I realized how God was working things out on Phil’s end while he was working things out in me. While Phil was in college there was a time where he wasn’t living for God. He reached a point where he knew he needed to get things right with God and recommitted his life. After awhile of following God he met a nice Christian girl and they started dating. But around the  time that I handed my future in relationships over to God, the girl he was dating broke up with him. He knew for a day or so that it was coming and spent time praying about it. By the time they talked he felt completely at peace about it. 

Phil’s parents have said to him that seeing how he handled the break was a huge testament to the change in his life and his relationship with God. It was the first major thing that happened in his life since recommitting himself to God. Only a few weeks after that happened and after I surrendered my life to God was when we reconnected. Looking back I can see how both Phil and I both needed to get to certain places before God placed us in each other’s lives for a relationship.

Phil and I will probably never get tired of going back to the story of how our relationship started...because it is such an amazing example of God’s love and care for us. Our story has reminded me over and over that God cares so much about the little details and he knows our hearts more than we can even imagine. One of our favorite songs is called When God made you by NewSong. There is a verse that says,               
“I wonder what God was thinking when he created you. I wonder if he knew everything I would need because he made all my dreams come true. When God made you he must have been thinking about me.”

I know without a doubt that God was preparing and planning for Phil and I to be a part of each other's lives long before we had even met. Phil is everything that I (and my mother) had ever prayed for. He is also many things that I never prayed for...things my heart whispered that my words could never form. As cliche as this sounds, Philip really does complete me. It is as if God made Philip and I in such a way so that when He put us together and when we become one...we will be whole and more effective.

I share this story, because our story is a testimony of God's faithfulness and how much good he has in-store for each of us. No matter where you are at in life and your journey, know that God's timing is perfect. When we allow God to have our focus and trust it allows Him to work more fully in our lives. And as your allow God to work in you He will shape and grow your own desires, with His desires for you. Remember, that even if you are ready for something or someone...there are also other factors coming into play. Continue to serve and trust Him and the Lord will provide. He is preparing you for a lifetime of adventures. I for one am so excited for the adventures that life will bring for Philip and I, with God at our side!

Mark 10:6-9,"At the beginning of creation God 'made them male and female.' For this reason a man will leave His father and mother and be united to His wife, and the two will become one flesh. So they are no longer, but one flesh, Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate."

The End (for now).

Photo credits: Danielle Trista Photography