While I was one campus one afternoon eating lunch with some church friends, this boy came and sat down with us. I recognized him as a freshmen Bible study leader at church. I remembered always thinking he was such a sweet guy, but I never got a chance to meet him until this day. Conversation was light-hearted and fun; I was really enjoying his company.
That afternoon we became Facebook friends and for the rest of the summer we hung out in a group made up of 5 more friends we already had in common. It was a great summer.
Once the fall started, we settled back into our regular friend groups and didn't see much of each other for a while. That is, until the Spring of 2008.
Every March (two weeks before Spring Break), our college ministry would take a trip to the beach for a weekend, called Spring Retreat. Each year a different speaker would come out and preach a message. It was always a great time to draw closer to the Lord and build stronger friendships with other college students.
During this particular Spring Retreat, the for mentioned boy and I started hanging out a little bit more. We'd seek each other out at the sessions to chit chat and at one point took a picture together and joked that it was our engagement picture.
Our "engagement" picture - March 2008
After Spring Retreat, we each went on separate Spring Break trips with different groups of friends. On his trip were three girls, him, and another guy. After Spring Break, I noticed on Facebook that this boy and one of the girls from the trip had just started a relationship. That was the first time I realized I might have a tad bit of a crush on this boy. But, being the good Christian girl that I am, I congratulated them and kept my jealous thoughts to myself.Thankfully later I found out that it was a joke. Relief.
By the end of March the boy and I were hanging out on an almost regular basis. One night in particular, my roommate and I were invited by the boy to meet him and some other friends to play a game of Freeze Tag on the quad. On our way to campus, I asked my roommate to watch the boy and see if she thought he liked me. On our way home, she agreed that he acted differently towards me than he did any of the other girls out there.
On March 31st, the boy asked me on our first date.
On April 2nd, we had our first date.
Our first date was the most romantic and thoughtful date I've ever been on. He picked me up from my apartment and we went to his place. When we walked it the apartment was covered in little white tea candles. He had jazz music playing on his TV and he had dinner on the table. On my plate was my favorite dish from my favorite restaurant in town - Chicken Fettucini Alfredo from Cypress Inn. Afterwards we got ice cream and went back to his apartment to watch Enchanted.
At the end of Enchanted, there is a ballroom scene. During that scene, the boy asked me if I wanted to dance. Of course, I said "yes". So we danced. I was hooked.
May 3rd, we became officially "Boyfriend/Girlfriend".
Before we started dating, this boy and I committed to work at two different camps for two different halves of the summer. I would be in Texas for the first part of the summer and he would be in Arkansas for the second part of the summer. We kept in touch through letters throughout the week and phone calls on the weekends.
In July, I came home from camp. When I got back to Tuscaloosa I immediately rushed to the boy's apartment. When I got there, he had a letter he had written me. In this letter he described all the reasons he loved me. His final reason: "Because I know that even though you haven't told me, I know you love me too". He was right. I did love him. I loved him so much that I could hardly keep from writing it in my letters to him. When I finished the letter, I followed up with the question, "Do you love me like, forever love me?" His answer was "Yes".
Fast forward a year.
We spend yet another summer apart. He spends 3 weeks in India for the first part of the summer and I spend 5 weeks in Romania the second part of the summer.
I'll let this video describe what happened next:
(there are two songs on this video, but youtube won't use them for copyright reasons)
11 months later, we walked down the aisle and became husband and wife. While we stood before friends, family, and God, we made a covenant promise to love one another as Christ commands and to forsake all others as long as we are both living.
Two years later, we're living in Texas, he is going to Seminary, and I am carrying his first child.
There are two lessons I have learned in the last two years (at least two main lessons). The first is that love does not always come naturally, sometimes it is a choice that we must make. Love is not always easy, but it's also not always that difficult.
The second lesson I've learned is that marriage is a covenant bond, rather than a contract. Contracts are broken when someone is unhappy with the finished product. Marriage is not something you break because it's not what you expected. Marriage is a bond between a man and a woman, in the sight of God and under His authority. When God makes a covenant bond with his people, which He did numerous times in the OT, he never breaks it. Even when his people turn to false gods, time after time, He continues to keep his covenant with them.
Tonight I am thankful to be in a covenant bond with the boy I met at the Ferg at the University of Alabama. He has made me proud to be his wife. I am thankful for his servant's heart and his leadership over our family. I am thankful that Elijah (and all our future children) will have an earthly daddy who will point them to our Heavenly Father.
I love you, Rob, and I'm excited for what this next year has to offer us! Happy Anniversary, sweet love!
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