All Things Work Together for Good

On March 27, 2004, I was supposed to have been married to a cattle farmer from Nelson County, KY. Just weeks before the wedding occurred, a doctor told him he had to have back surgery for some ruptured discs. We, of course, postponed the wedding.

At some point during his convalescence, we began having real problems - like, it's-time-to-see-a-marriage-counselor-type problems. I suggested we go to see a Christian counselor to help us deal with our issues. The first response out of his mouth was, "Why does it have to be a Christian counselor?"

"Um, because we're Christians," I said. In my head, I added the words, I think.

Keep in mind, we had been together for almost two years, and he had gone to church with me pretty much every Sunday during those two years - and, sometimes, on Wednesday nights. But going to church does not make you a Christian.
I began to wonder, at that point, if I had been unequally yoked all that time. I cried and prayed and cried some more. I didn't want to break off the engagement. I was already 27 years old and didn't think my chances of finding another man who would want to marry me were very good. It had taken me several years to find this guy.

As He has a habit of doing in my life, God solved the issue for me. I went to visit my fiancé in the house we had built together one afternoon, and he told me that he didn't want to marry me anymore. I was crushed.

I immediately entered into an intense time of praying and seeking God.

In June 2004, I was approached one Sunday afternoon by my future mother-in-law. She told me that she'd heard my engagement had ended, and she wondered if she could get my phone number to give to her son, who was a truck driver.

To be honest, I was quite taken aback by the request, but I thought, 'Oh, why not? It won't hurt to just talk to the guy - and even go on a date with him. I don't have to go on any other dates if it doesn't work out.' So, I gave her my phone number.

Sometime after that, her son called me. I was in the process of moving out of my parents' home into an apartment of my own, and I told him so. He said, at that point, that he would leave me alone to take care of what I needed to. And he told me to call him back whenever I got a chance.

I've never liked talking on the phone. Not really. Well, let's just say I've never liked being the one to initiate phone calls. So, I never did.

But, for some reason, I called this guy - the same guy I gave my number to through his mom on a whim. Was I rebounding? Yes. Was I lonely? Probably. I can't really remember. Was something else involved in my impetuous, unusual action? I think so.

By the time I got around to calling him, he was already back on the road. And he stayed on the road for a few weeks. But we talked for hours almost every night during those long weeks. And then we finally went on our first date.

On August 15, 2004, my future husband picked me up at my apartment at 2:00 pm. We went to Steak 'n' Shake for lunch, and then we went to the Louisville Zoo.

After the zoo, we went back to my apartment and ordered a pizza because it was getting to be dinnertime. While we ate, we watched the movie Mouse Hunt.

After the movie, we sat on the couch and talked %u2026 and talked %u2026 and talked. And then, suddenly, it was 4:30 in the morning!

I had never before had such a magical first date, and I know my husband hadn't either. We knew right then and there that something really special was happening. We were falling in love - real love - with each other. And there wasn't anything anyone could do about it.