In early March of this year, I decided to join eHarmony. I had been on another dating website a few weeks prior and to say the least, the pickens were slim in the sunshine state! I knew that eHarmony was reputible because I had friends who had met their husbands or wives on the website. If I am being completely honest though, I had no faith that God would use eHarmony to connect me with my soul mate.
Famous last words...
On March 6, 2012 I was matched with my soon to be husband, otherwise known as the man I've been praying for since I began speaking to God!! I remember reading Derek's profile and thinking, "Geez! In addition to being gorgeous, this guy seems to have a really pure heart!" We began messaging and it didn't even occur to me that Derek being located in Texas and my being located in Florida could cause some heartache (I know, I have my moments of clarity, this was not one of them.)
I am grateful the distance did not create hesitency in either of our hearts...
We emailed for a week before talking on the phone. Long emails, emails that eventually turned from simple messages to word documents attached because of the length of the message. We took our hearts, tipped them over and let them soak the keyboard in an attempt to connect to each other. Emails turned to phone calls, turned to skype conversations, turned to he and I falling head over heels in love with one another before ever really "meeting" in person. I laughed about it then and I laugh about it now because there was a palpable transparency from day one with he and I. Even though we had never seen each other "in the flesh," the love we shared was real and true and steadfast.
D walked off of the shuttle at Tampa Bay airport at 11:50pm on April 26, 2012. I fought tears as we made eye contact for the first time and thought to myself, "There he is." I'll spare everyone the mushy details of that first 15 minutes but to say that the first minutes spent in his arms are unforgettable would be an enormous understatement! We spent that whole weekend laughing, crying, talking, going to the beach, taking in movies and just "being" with each other. I felt broken when we were driving to the airport on Sunday night. As we drove and I attempted to keep my sense of humor, I remember feeling like I was being torn apart from limb to limb. As if I was being dissembled one piece at a time. We sat in the airport and agreed that we wanted to be together as soon as possible.
Monday April 30th, 2012, I requested a transfer from the location I worked at in Sarasota, Florida to the location here in Dallas, TX. One week later, I had a formal position offer and a start date of Monday May 14, 2012. D hopped on a plane on Wednesday May 9, 2012, spent time packing up my apartment while I finsihed out the work week and we took off for our home together in Texas on Friday May 11, 2012!
In one week, we're getting married!!!
I would like to say that D and I had something to do with this. I would like to take credit for this amazing gift we've been given and act as if either of us had control over our meeting and subsequent falling in love. We know though, deep within our beings, that this is ALL GOD!! That He created us with the intention of sharing our lives together and the only role we have played is an attempt to be obedient to Him (although we have both failed throughout our lives at this) and His calling. There have been countless times over the last few months where he and I have expressed how deeply in awe we are at the grace and love of God!
In addition to get to spend the rest of my life with a man who although he is not perfect is ABSOLUTELY PERFECT for me, I also get to love all over two wonderful, beautiful, angelic little ones. D's children Faith and Charlie stole my heart during our first weekend together. I cannot wait to be a witness to the amazing contributions each will make to the world around them in His name!
...I am so blessed and so humbled and so in love...
