Sunday, July 15, 2007

A Story of God's Goodness







Twelve years ago today Sean and I were married. It was a sweltering 115 degrees outside. (Praise God for air-conditioning!)



For those of you who missed it last year on GirlTalk, during the bookclub discussion, here is the story of how we met.



Just like Ruth, the story of how God brought my husband into my life started out with difficult circumstances. I was starting my fourth year of college, helping to organize Bible Studies for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. During an event designed to reach out to students, a young man handed me a love letter saying that "God had told him that I was the one he was to marry". It turned out that this man was not a student, but a homeless schizophrenic man who now knew my address, since one of the Bible Studies was at my apartment. Over the next few weeks he dropped off letters at my doorstep, in the middle of the night, that became increasingly obscene and threatening. I decided to call the police.

I was advised to get a restraining order and not walk alone. God met my needs abundantly. My roommate's father was a lawyer and filed the paperwork for me free of charge. Twelve other believers lived next door, underneath or across from me in our apartment complex. They took turns walking with me to class and going to the police station with me to drop off more letters as they came. At one point three young men slept on my living room floor with baseball bats "just in case". During finals' week when my friends were busier and my life was more stressful, my dad took a week off of work and came to be with me.

During this time I met three police officers who were handling my case. I would find out later that all three were godly Christian men. Two were my fathers age and viewed me as a daughter in Christ. One was a good looking single guy. He ended up being the one who came and arrested the man who was stalking me.

Over the summer break, the stalker was released from jail. I ended up having several conversations with the young police officer about it all. Each conversation would start out "Hello Officer" and end with "Good-Bye Sean". By the time I returned to school, at a different address, the homeless man had written me one last letter saying that "God had told him to move on". The return address was in another state. The case was closed. Sean helped me move into my new apartment and took me out to dinner, our first date. We were married 10 months later.

Last year when I was talking to my son about Romans 8:28 he looked at me and said, "Mommy, that's just like how you and Daddy met! God used it for good!" Amen to that. He sure did!




I Love You Sean!!!
Here's to many more great years together. Thanks for being my "Knight in Shining Armor"!

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

I missed reading that on GirlTalk, so thanks for posting it here!!

Happy Anniversary!

Wendy said...

What a great story!

Happy Anniversary! (We are on 12 this year too).

sarah said...

Beautiful! Thanks for sharing :-)

Kristen Borland said...

i just love hearing that story! i think it would make a great dee henderson novel.

happy anniversary! i wish i'd known this morning at church!! (the whole church had a potluck to celebrate your anniversary and didn't even know it!)

i love wedding pictures! thanks for posting them!

Bethany said...

What a cool story. So glad you shared it. Love your wedding pics too. Happy Anniversary

Anonymous said...

Christina-Happy Anniversary! Beautiful wedding pictures! Can't wait to catch up! Hopefully this week works out! So excited about being the big book winner! Thank you!

Anonymous said...

Christina,
Wow, happy Anniversary! I wish I had known earlier today and could have say it in person. I hope you enjoy your day of celebration. I too enjoyed the story and the pictures.

Kim said...

I love hearing these love stories!

Precious stories of love between husband and wife and they tell an even greater story of *His* love for us....and His perfect plan for us.

Blessings & Happy Anniversary :)

Anonymous said...

Happy Anniversary! It was great seeing some of your pictures. I am enjoying our time together and getting to know you and your family better. Thank you for helping me yesterday. Tricia W.

Me said...

What a beautiful testimony of God's goodness! Thank you for sharing this.

Happy Anniversary!

Leigh

Anonymous said...

I did read it on GirlTalk but had forgotten it, so thanks for posting it again. What a story!

Anonymous said...

Wow Christina! That is one of the best love stories I have ever heard. What a testimony to God's perfect plan (even when we don't understand the trials).
Love,
Charlotte S

kittyhox said...

How neat! You ended up marrying your knight in shining armor. What a darling couple you all are!