November 13th

So... it's a day late. Oh well.

If you like corny love stories... enjoy!!

November 13th... 7 years ago... has always been special to Jacob and me. I just had to tell the story...

So... me and Jacob have known each other since middle school - cute, I know. We were Best Friends Forever! We loved hanging out together. I even rode with him and his brother to school every morning for 2 years... in the Bronco... listening to the yellow MercyMe CD EVERYDAY! Anyways... we were best friends, laughed a lot together, hung out with the church people... and TOTALLY ignored each other at school.  Such is the life of a high schooler.

Although we had secret crushes on each other, I always claimed he was like my brother and just brushed it off - weird now, huh? Well, when I was in the 11th grade and Jacob in the 10th grade... we went on a mission trip to Mexico.  Now... I learned a lot about God on that trip and fell in love with foreign missions while in Mexico.  But... something else happened while on that trip as well... God showed me I was going to marry Jacob!!! AHHH! We were at "The Dump." It was literally a dump... smelly, gross, and full of garbage and starving people. It was the worst/saddest place I have ever been... still.  But, I saw Jacob's heart there... as he ministered to this malnourished little girl - he helped her color, he loved on her, and he told her about Jesus.  As I watched this... I knew, somehow, we would end up together! I was FREAKED OUT! So... we enjoyed the rest of the trip. It included lots of ministry and VBS-ing, shopping at the market, and LOTS of barfing from a bug our entire team caught while there! Fun times.

So... knowing I would end up with Jacob, what did I do? I TOTALLY IGNORED it... as any teenage girl would do. So... I went along with my dance team-ing self, chasing after popularity, and enjoying life. I graduated high school - yay! The summer after my graduation, I was with Jacob and our friend Taylor EVERY SINGLE DAY! We were BFFs! But... I was going to college at UAB, had just made the Golden Girls dance team, and didn't know where life would lead me.  I still liked Jacob (that was a secret known only to me... and everyone who watched us together), but was terrified of LABELS... I didn't want to be boyfriend/girlfriend... because... I was still being a teenage girl.

Life went on, and I started college. I was enjoying myself. Still hanging out with Jacob... but not willing to commit.

Finally... November 13th happened.  We looked a bit like this:

Things don't change, huh? 

So... we were hanging out and we usually ended up talking in the church parking lot for hours on end after our activities. So we talked and talked... and Jacob had had enough. He said, "I'm going to ask you to be my girlfriend one time... and then I'm done. If you aren't willing... I can't hang out anymore." He took this paper I had written a few months early that said "I WILL FIND A GOOD GUY. I WILL DANCE. I WILL SMILE. THE END!" and wrote "just remember 5 years." This 5 years referred to the 5 years of friendship and liking each other that we had endured and the time that he had loved and supported me as a friend.  He got out of the car, threw the paper back through the window and shut the door. Dramatic? YES! 

I was in a dilema. What to do? What to do? 

So, I said "Wait!" I put my hands on the window seal. He came over and grabbed them and... IT WAS OVER!!! You know the music of angels singing that happen in movies when two people fall in love and live happily ever after??? Well, I heard that!   It was magical! I was hooked. We stuttered about... not knowing what to say... and I finally muttered, "why didn't you just hold my hand a long time ago?" Haha!!! We hugged... and the rest is history.

Now... our history isn't all magical and perfect... it's full of craziness, lots of bumps, and beautiful redemption! :) I'm thankful for our story and all we've learned together. 

We now have that piece of paper that started everything hanging in our bathroom with a picture from our honeymoon. We are pretty presh.