In light of it being our anniversary today, let me share a bit of our love story…
Matt and I met about 20 years ago in Calgary, AB, where his family lived. To put this in perspective, I am currently 22 years old and he is 23. My paternal grandparents lived out there as well and when we visited them we also saw Matt’s family (since they also were a part of the same church). In fact, my grandparents used to babysit Matt and his brothers. When Matt’s family moved out to the Lower Mainland, the only connection we had was through the annual Foursquare Kids Camp we attended every August. When we were older we both volunteered at that camp and his mom was the director for several years.
I’ll admit, I have had a long-standing, off-and-on crush on my hubby – even well before we started dating. I would see him serving at camp and at church events and think he was so handsome and hilarious but there was no way he’d ever like me back; he had plenty of attention already. 😉
We attended the same college for one year and seeing him nearly every day re-sparked that interest in me but I never thought it would blossom into anything. He was kind and hilarious around all women so I wasn’t sure I was special. In September of 2014, he asked me out to lunch (which turned into dinner as well because we were at the restaurant that long). The one thing I remember from that outing is that he wouldn’t stop staring at me. Again, my heart flew at the thought of a relationship with him.
Here’s the kicker: we didn’t have ANY CONTACT for FOUR MONTHS. (I tease him about this all the time)
Four months passed before he asked me out again. What I didn’t know was that God was working on his heart and growing him into the man of my dreams. At the time, I was convinced he had lost his shot and nothing was ever going to happen between us.
I am so glad God had other plans – and that it didn’t go the way I planned.
In January of 2015, Matt finally sent me a message and asked if I would like to spend time together. My college roommate can attest to the curiosity I felt regarding why it had taken so long for him to get back to me. From that first afternoon together I knew something had changed. All I could think was, “Who is this man sitting before me and how come I never saw him this way before?” A lot of prayer went into how I was feeling as the sparks started flying again and I couldn’t control my heart from swelling with interest.
We saw each other a total of three times before he asked me if I would like to date him and become his girlfriend. I already knew in my heart what my answer was but I told him I needed to pray about it. I also needed to talk to a couple of people to make sure that what I was feeling was from God and that we were making the right decision. I hadn’t had a lot of boyfriends before Matt but I had more than once thought God intended for me to date someone when it was just my human emotions clouding me from being able to really hear God.
When I said yes to Matt, I knew I wasn’t just saying yes to being his girlfriend; I was saying yes to eventually becoming his wife and mother of his children. God had been clear that Matt was my man, the one my heart had been searching for.
You know, the advice that people who are in love always give to those who are searching for it is, “You’ll know when you know.” Worst. Advice. Ever. The truth is, I knew I was in love with Matt when I realized that he lived up to all of the high standards I had for the man I wanted to marry. My friends always told my standards were unreasonable and I would never find someone who met them all but I believed that because they were all grounded in the Word of God and the character of God that I would one day meet someone who was exactly what I was looking for. Turns out, I had known him most of my life but it took 18 years of God working in us and growing us into the people who would compliment the other perfectly before it was the right time.
No, he’s not perfect, but my standards were never about finding someone who was “perfect”, just perfect for me. Finding forever kind of love is all about timing, believing that God cares about your love life, and trusting Him to lead you towards all the amazing things He wants for your life.
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