I know for a fact that the reason my husband and I met was purely divine intervention. I’d gotten out of an extremely bad relationship two years prior and had begun seeking God in an effort to help repair myself from all that I’d been through. I prayed each and every day for two years that God would send me the man that He had for me. Unfortunately like most, I kept trying to take the situation into my own hands by asking friends if they had any friends, signing up on dating websites, and intentionally going into grocery stores and hardware stores on manhunts.
On December 30, 2008, God woke me up at 3:00AM and the message I heard was clear as day. It was “I can’t send the man I have for you until you take your hands off of the situation.” Needless to say, when God wakes you up, you listen! Coincidentally, my husband was attending the watch night service at his church on the same night and God told him that he was about to send him his wife.
During my earlier manhunt days, I’d registered with ChristianMingle, and on January 4, 2009, I received a message from my now husband. We communicated through emails and finally took things to the next stage: phone calls! Before I knew it, on February 9, we had our first date. It was awesome, relaxed, and fun, but to be honest I didn’t walk away thinking, “Yes, he’s the one.” I found that out on our second date.
During our courtship (yes, my husband courted me), I’d told him about all the things that I thought I wanted in a man. I thought I wanted a man who was rugged, a bad boy, and tough and my husband definitely was not the” thug” type. My husband was adamant about showing me what it was that I was deserving of, so on our second date (Valentine’s Day), my husband presented me with the gift of a bear named “Joebie Scuff” that was dressed in thug attire (hoody, sagging jeans, the whole nine yards.) On the bear, he wrote me the sweetest letter about where he prayed our relationship would go. I remember driving home that night, in tears, because I’d realized that the man that I prayed for all those years was finally here and he really existed.
My husband and I planned to go on a family vacation with his entire family on his birthday in July 2010, but we were unable to go because he had fallen ill with pneumonia. His family had intentions of celebrating his birthday while we were there, so when the opportunity to celebrate his birthday with him presented itself once again during my family’s vacation to Disney World, his sister called and asked if we minded that they pop up and plan a surprise birthday celebration for him.
Needless to say, I agreed, so his sister and I planned a surprise birthday party for my husband at Cinderella’s castle on our last night at Disney. His family drove in (as a surprise to him) and I’d orchestrated their grand reveal to my husband at the dinner table. His family walked in and he was “surprised” to see them, but was still unsure why they were there. We ate dinner, laughed and talked a bit, and then the waitress proceeded to head over with the “surprise birthday cake.” When she arrived, she mistakenly placed the cake in front of me. I began to look around the table and spotted my sister at the end of the table already balling her eyes out. The surprise was for me. I’d been a part of planning my whole engagement! I then looked over to my husband and there he was on his knee, asking for my hand in marriage in front of my entire immediate family, his family and everyone at Cinderella’s castle! To say that it was magical would be an understatement. The proposal was accompanied by the grand fireworks finale and a romantic champagne toast by those who were with us. I’d always dreamt about how my proposal would happen and secretly to myself had always prayed that when it did, I would be surrounded by everyone that I loved. God gave me just that and more! What God has given me has gone exceedingly and abundantly above all that I could pray for!