Date night...

There was a time when I thought I would be single forever.  I dated, but no one came close to being right.  I remember the Christmas after I turned 24, I joked with my family that I would probably be the one who was 40 and still single at all the holidays.  It was a joke, but I almost thought there was some truth to it.
Who would have thought God had something truly wonderful up His sleeve?  6 months later He introduced me to Mr. Right.  It was very unexpected.
I was leading Young Life for Emerald Ridge and ended up going to Malibu, Canada for the high school camp. So did my husband.  He wasn't my husband yet, but in 5 short days, and a few little conversations with him later, I knew he would be.
While at camp, I was told I should talk to him, so I did.  Our first conversation was awkward.  I could've sworn he was rolling his eyes at me (he says he wasn't), so I thought he wasn't interested.  But after some more quick hellos, and little chats, it was clear God had something planned.  I went home from that trip and texted my sister to tell her that I'd met my husband.
After getting back home to Puyallup, I realized there was a problem, my future hubby never got my number. So I didn't know what was going to happen.  Well, a couple days later I got a phone call from a number I didn't recognize and it was him!  He called around to some YL staff to get my number.  He asked me out over the phone and the rest was a whirlwind.
I say whirlwind because it all happened so fast.  Who tells someone "I love you" on the 5th date? We did.  Who gets engaged after 2 months of knowing each other? We did. And who gets married in Vegas after only 3 months of dating and one month engaged?? We did!  People think it's crazy and say you shouldn't move so fast, but when God lets you know something is right and illustrated by Him, why not jump in?  God doesn't lead us astray.
3 years and 3 months and almost 3 kids later, we're still married and still going on dates.  In fact we went on a date last night.  A first date of sorts, because we hadn't really been on one since our anniversary in November.  We had fun. We laughed, we held hands, we shared a dessert, we shopped...things that dating couples do. It's hard to keep dating after marriage, but we're trying.  It keeps our marriage strong.
That's our little love story...kind of fitting to share it on this Valentine's Day weekend.  Happy Valentine's Day to you and your loved ones!