.Our Story.

This is the story of how a boy and a girl fell in love....

In July 2007, Cody and I both went on a mission trip to Haiti.

 The trip was a partnership of two ministries: Brent Gambrell Ministries (of whom I was a former intern and Cody was the current intern) and New Missions (of whom I was the current intern).

 Over the previous few weeks, Cody and I had formed a really strong friendship via numerous text messages and phone calls but, in my mind, the relationship did not go past friendship.

I was 22 and a semester away from being a college graduate and had finally gotten to a place in my relationship with the Lord where I was embracing the fact the fact that I didn’t know what new things he’d soon bring into my life instead of being terrified of them.

I hoped those things would be living and ministering abroad, something that would surely be hindered if I were to get into a relationship.

But God had other plans.

Throughout our time in Haiti, I felt Him doing something new in mine and Cody’s relationship.

And it terrified me.

At one poing, I distinctly heard God say to me,

“Let him pursue you.”

“What?” was my response. “Seriously, God? That is absolutely not what I want. I want to be pursued by you, satisfied in you! I don’t want to need any man.”

One night I cried to Brent that I was overwhelmed by Cody.

I was afraid because, in my mind, he was a much better Christian  than me and knew exactly where he was going in life.

I said that I just knew that if Cody and I had a discussion about what was happening between us then I would have to end up marrying him.

 {Before going on this trip, my friend Hilary who was my roommate at the time and had graduated from Liberty had told me that, judging from what I told her, Cody was “so Liberty” which meant that he was on the 4-year plan to find a wife.}

Brent just laughed at me, told me to relax and assured me that merely having a conversation with Cody did not mean that we would end up getting married.

He said C had come to him saying similar things and could we please just talk to each other already?

Have you ever had that experience before where you know that God is working in a situation and you just can’t explain it?

And to tell it to other people, they would probably think that you were crazy? This is one of those times…

Later that night I got on my face (literally, it was that serious) before God and I cried.

I told him that I was scared of what He was revealing to me and that I was not ready to be in a relationship (especially not a long distance one with him back at Liberty and me who knows where!) and could He please just make everything go away?

Isn’t it wonderful how God answers our prayers but completely not in the way we would have wanted Him to?

The next morning, July 5, 2007, I woke up and – I promise you I am not lying – my feelings towards Cody had done a one eighty.

I couldn’t wait to see him. I couldn’t wait to talk to him. I couldn’t to let him pursue me.

And when I finally did let him, it was wonderful.

He was sweet, he was respectful, he was genuine.

He wrote me poetry, he rode a Greyhound bus for 32 hours roundtrip just to visit with me for 12 hours and – unbeknownst to me - he spent his last $40 (did I mention that he was an unpaid intern) to take me to my favorite restaurant.

Am I saying this happens to everyone? Of course not. One of the (million) things that I love about My Savior is that He is so unique.

 My love story is my own and I cherish that.

Am I saying that life has been a fairy tale? Absolutely not.

We’re had our fair share of fights, we’ve stumbled because we’ve taken our eyes off of the Lord and we’re realized that ministry isn’t always glamorous.

I’m thankful that God knew (and continues to know) me better than I knew myself and saw fit to put Cody and I together.