How I Met My Honey - A Story of Hope and Faith

If you are looking for a story that will fill you with hope, here it is.

The short story: he called me, we went out, he went shopping for a ring and proposed the next week, I said yes, and got married 6 months later.

The longer version: It all began 6 years ago this week infact! It was just yesterday I looked at my hubby and said, "Aaaawwww! It was 6 years ago today that you got my number and called me!" We remember every detail of our "courting days" because it was only 12 days long, from the first phone call to the engagement ring!

Well, God had been preparing our hearts for one another for years before we met. So by the summer time before we met we were actually searching for one another through a specific list of qualities that had been placed on our hearts. So when anyone would approach him or myself asking what kind of person we were looking to marry, he would tell people his list, and I would tell people my list.

I've faced alot of tough stuff throughout my life since my childhood, and certainly no picnic in my adult years either. And by that year my soul was so drained, and I had shared with a prayerful co-worker that I couldn't do life alone anymore.

Meanwhile, that summer, one of my very closest girlfriends began to spend alot more time with me, and everytime before going home she would pray specifically for God to provide a husband for me. In that time she was listening very intently and taking into heart the list of qualities I was looking for, while she was also getting to know better who I was.

Another strange occurance that summer in July was when one night I received a call from a stranger who was calling to invite me to a prayer meeting they were setting up for another young woman, an aquaintance of mine, a prayer meeting for her to find her husband. I was speechless and fell silent as I felt once again the ache in my heart. She said, "Hello are you there?" I told her that I couldn't make it to that meeting, but that I have the same prayer request and would they mind if they prayed for me too. She asked me what I was looking for in a husband and agreed that they would pray. The day of the prayer meeting was September 11.

During that summer, I was doing alot of praying too on my own. And it was very strange, but all summer I saw shooting stars in the sky from my backyard almost every night as I would be praying to God, "Who is he? Where does he live? When will I find him?" And by the morning of September 12th I was so drained and done talking to God about all of this, that as I was leaving the gym from working out that morning, I got to my car and saw a penny on the ground which reminded me to pray to God just one more time. Looking up at the sky I said, "God? I'm tired of praying about my husband, I'm not going to anymore. This is the last time. You know where I live, you know my address. When you're ready to send him, just send him. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen." Little did I know the call from hubby would come within the next hour!

I got into my car and drove the 2 minutes to get home. With my bag on my shoulder I entered my home to the sound of the phone ringing. It was my friend who had been praying for me all summer. She said, "Okay yesterday I met a guy and here's the deal." Bracing myself for the details, was she going to tell me about a guy she met for herself? "I just met a guy who's aunt I work with, and as he began to tell me who he was looking for as his wife, my mouth dropped open and all I could think was 'I know this woman!'" She went on to say, "I mentioned your name and described you, and he would like to know if I can pass on your number to him."

My hubby's side of the story: when he heard my name, he couldn't stop thinking about me and knew he needed to meet me, like on a mission with great urgency, and somehow knew I was the one he was looking for.

On a side note: he heard my name and asked for my number while that other prayer meeting for my other friend was taking place, at which my name was also mentioned and prayed for.

Ladies, as totally excited as I was, let me assure you I am also the queen of self-securtiy. So I let her pass on my number to this man who actually seemed to fit my requirements for a husband. And wouldn't you know it, of course I'd have to be myself by passing on my number with a note, that he would have to call me within the next 30 minutes and I'd be on my way to work. Breaking crazy American tradition of making a girl wait 3 days before giving her a call, he got my number and called me as quickly as he could contain his own excitement. We had a good converstion and I asked him politely to NOT call me the rest of the week because I was writing my ordination exams. Needless to say, he called me every night - very romantic. And I did pass the exams.

And wouldn't you know it, as we talked about meeting for the first time, we found out that we lived just a quarter mile from each other on the very same street! That's just a 5 minute jog! 1 minute by car! God DOES know my address!

We went on our first and only date, after 3 nights of phone calls. I told the ladies at work if I liked him I'd invite him to church. He got the invitation and was excited to come to church with me. At the end of our date we said goodbye with a quick hug, which he later told me was when he felt his soul give out a big sigh of relief that he had found me, his wife - he was done searching.

If this story sounds way out there, be assured that it fits my life as God has brought me up. I grew up in a home where since I was ten years old, when someone would ask me, "Little girl, do you have a boyfriend?" I constantly heard the words from my dad in his accent come up from behind me, "No no! No boyfriend! Just marry!" He carried on those words until I turned my early 20's, and by then not being married my parents would send me off on dates with these words, "Go out! Have fun! Laugh! Talk! Get to know people!" By then I was done with dating the American way, and just wanted to find my hubby the way I had been brought up to originally believe it would happen - "No boyfriend! Just marry!" I knew that God would be true to the reality he brought me up in and somehow knew the "one" would be someone who would be ready when he met me, and someone I would feel very comfortable being myself.

So after our date, we hung out that weekend, and then he decided to go ring shopping! The next weekend after we met he took me to the bay area for my first football game, a fancy dinner where the waiter spreads the napkin on your lap for you, and a marriage proposal on bended knee by the ocean under the most stunning reddest sunset I've ever seen. He was very well dressed up and spiffy, I was dressed casual not being aware of the evening's agenda.

And then of course calls to our families first, then breaking the news to friends and my workplace. Mind you, I did my best upon our first phone call and meeting to let my family and my closer friends know that the possibilty of great news would be sooner than expected. If you want people to stand by your side you need to help them along or they won't get it.

As hubby and I look back, we totally realize that the qualifications for a spouse we were each looking for were infact placed on our hearts from the Holy Spirit so that we may recognize each other when we met. They were unique to each other and unique to the time that was leading us to meeting each other. We used to think WE came up with our lists, but soon after we understood it was God working in our hearts and guiding us. And we can see now why so much prayer was needed.

Since then it's been 5 years of burdens halved and joys multiplied!

If you would like to read more couples' stories or share your own, go over to Barb's! She sure comes up with some good ones.