The Best Story So Far: Part 3 (Up Til Now)

Photo Credit: David James Visuals

Yep. I'm still alive. And feeling a little guilty it's taken me so long to finish this story. 

Sorry for the cliffhanger! 

In case you need a recap:
Singleness
Best Story So Far: Part 1
Best Story So Far: Part 2

Last I mentioned in this love story, I was flying down to meet my boyfriend's family in Cali. I think I'll pause here and go ahead and tell you. His name is Chris. And at this point, we have both expressed our love for each other. It wasn't cheesy, and it wasn't cliché. It was a beautiful conversation. And that's all I'll say about that: At this point, we love each other.

I was nervous to meet his family. I'm a pretty confident person, in general. But this was different. I was embarking on a weekend packed with tons of new people, in two different towns, from 3 different eras in Chris's life... Gearing up, I had determined to not get overwhelmed... after all, he had already done this part in my stomping grounds!

The whole weekend went so000 well, not to mention how much fun I had and how many amazing people I met. 

The weekend concluded with conversation about "closing the gap" geographically between us. Long distance was difficult. And while we'd only been experiencing this for a few months, both of our intentions were long term. 

The Move. 

I know it may feel like I'm cutting things out, but I know no other way to embark on this next chapter without just diving in. Two months after my trip to California, I was making a second trip. I flew down to spend a little more time with his parents before... 

He Moved Up To Me. 

Yes folks... Christopher packed his bags just over 6 months after we met, and made the drive with his crammed-to-the-top 4runner to a new home, just a 5 minutes drive from me. 

"Pursuing" has reached a whole new level here.

He moved. For me. 

Thinking back as I type those words, it still makes me gasp. 

He packed up his life, he moved his life, to pursue a new life... With Me. 

I cannot grasp it. But I sure am grateful. 

The Wait.

There was no job security, so after a week of settling into the basement he rented, he dove right into the job hunt. I've never in my life seen someone so dedicated to having a well planned out cover letter and intentional resume. 

I was being so impressed by his work ethic... just to find work. So many days of buckling down at coffee shops, surfing the internet for available positions. Resume after resume after resume. No responses. Resume after resume after resume. **Crickets**

He hit about 3 months and finally got a couple interviews. One that even repeatedly called him back for another. But on the final round, they chose someone else. 
**Crowd yells "BOOOO"**

So, resume after resume after resume, he continued faithfully pounding the pavement. 

Then it hit about 5 months of no work. 

We'd been covering this in prayer. Where was a job? Why was nothing panning out?

The Desire.

All the while Chris is job searching, I've been prayerfully waiting. I'm already sure that I love this man, and I know that he loves me. We both entered this relationship on the knowledge that we were dating with the intention to marry, both fully aware God could split us at any time, but that clearly wasn't how it looked after all this answered prayer. I desired to get married, just like I did four years ago when I started praying for my future husband (Wherever he may be).

So, I'd begun to pray for patience. As much as I wanted to be married, I didn't want it to be just in my timing. I wanted God's timing. And I wanted (Lord willing) Chris' timing. 

The Provision.

As people so often say, "It's not what you know, it's who you know." A friend connected Chris with someone Chris had known before he moved. That friend had a friend in a company with a job opening. With a resume, a letter of recommendation, and 3 interviews later, Chris found himself starting a job, 6 months after he'd moved to Oregon. 

What a huge answer to prayer. As we'd thought, "Has the Lord forgotten us?" He responded with providing a job. Thank You God!!!

The Life Change.

Chris started his job the first week in June 2014. If you don't remember. He wrote that first message to me on facebook, June 15 the year before. As the first few weeks of a new job passed, it was quite different. I grew very grateful for the 5 months Chris and I had had together with all his free time. We got to drop things and go on random outings, whenever we wanted. We'd had 5 solid months of spending tons of time together and getting to know each other without silly things like "grown up" schedules. Hahaha. (Yes, I work. But basically right by the coffee shop he parked himself each day and I get off early enough to have quite a bit of the day left.) So this whole both having jobs thing, took some adjusting. 

But it wasn't long until there was a whole new life switch to adjust to. 

Christopher, my boyfriend... Proposed.

Just over a week to the year since we started talking.

And a journey that started a year before became one that would be the change of a lifetime.

I will post soon with the proposal story. But until then... 

I'll just be off wedding planning with just under 2 weeks until wedding day already.

So... Now you can see why it's taken so long to finish the story... I've been plugging away at pulling a wedding together in somewhere around 4 months time. 

Isaiah 40:31

But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; 

they shall mount up with wings like eagles; 

they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

The Best Story So Far: Part 2 (You're A Real Person)

If you haven't read part 1 of "The Best Story So Far"... You need to do that!

The Best Story So Far: Part 1 (The Meet & Greet)

Hopefully you're caught up on the events that unfolded last summer that took me from Single-and-ready-to-mingle into a quick bout of Mingling and right into Can-I-have-yo-number?

If my memory serves me correctly I left you by saying I sat on the phone

for 3 hours chatting up a random Californian guy who I'd met on handy-dandy Facebook two weeks prior to said phone call...

Yes... That's about right.

We talked about the most random of small-talk topics; from comedians we laughed at, to where we’ve lived, to the go to don't-know-what-to-say topic of ... the weather.

The incredible intentionality shown on his part at the end of the call was what really got me interested. Wrapping things up he said, "I'd really like to call you again. Is that ok?"

After an affirmative from me, he went as far as to tell me the day and time that he intended to call again. Umm? Talk about considerate, especially for a girl, who by nature asks a thousand questions a day about why, when, where, and how for just about anything.

Being Pursued.

Just like the first call, he again called when he said he would.

Maybe it seems really tiny, but this impressed me.

And he continued to impress me as I began to feel, dare I say, Pursued.

Had God heard me? Hadn't I prayed to be pursued? But as it happened, I couldn't help but try to suppress the excitement. I was still in constant prayer, "If this isn't for real, just cut it off now. I'm not messing around. I'm looking for a husband, Lord!" But at this point I was at least gaining a friend. I hadn't overly invested. And I was doing what any cautious-with-my-heart girl does: checking in every so often asking myself, "If I stopped talking to this guy today, would I be hurt?" I looked back in my prayer journal just now, and I literally wrote down a prayer, "Protect my fragile heart, Lord. I'm trying so hard to trust You."

I could read on and on in my prayer journal to remember every word that I prayed, but I don't have time to type them all out. But I will say this, God answers prayer so much!

As I prayed against fear of making myself known to someone new, the Lord opened the Word and showed me 2 Timothy 1:7 and I was reminded that fear is not from the God I serve, but from my enemy. So as this guy pursued me, I see now … so did God.

Real People.

After a few weeks of chatting online, phone calls and Skype calls, the conversation turned to the thought of an in-person, real-life meeting. There'd been jokes all along that this was some elaborate prank on our friends part and that the other person didn't actually exist. Although we laughed at the thought of a giant practical joke, the reality was that we hadn't actually met each other yet and knew that phone calls between two people are much different than in-person interactions or even group interactions ... so there were a lot of unknowns.

We'd both been straight forward that this friendship couldn't really move into being more until we'd met in person. And, just 2 months after my post on Singleness, a friend's-friend's guy friend  (yeah, I meant that) was flying up from California to meet me. Shock didn't set in until the morning he was going to arrive.

Were we insane?

No, we'd both been praying this whole time ... And as I'd been shown over and over, God answers. So on the way to the airport to pick up my new friend, I zipped by the house of the girlfriend who connected us for a quick, Get-It-Together-Naomi pep talk.

The evening was fun with the couple that is half to credit for introducing us, and was followed the next morning by a hike of a local waterfall... During which I realized I was a total lunatic for choosing to take him on a hike and become a sweaty-hot-mess for our first in person date we'd ever go on. But sweaty or not, it was nice to not be on the phone for these conversations. (Photo above)

The falls was followed by many conversations with much deeper getting-to-know-you than we'd been doing on the phone. The weekend was great. I had actually accepted that I'd started to like this guy, and by the time he flew home I was now in shock that we had officially assumed the title of "Dating" each other exclusively.

Yep, I said it! I had a boyfriend... In SHOCK?

I was!

Can't Stay Away.

Well, it wasn't even 2 days after he'd visited that he was booking his next trip. The shock continued. He already wanted to see me again? I was just adjusting to being pursued online, but this was a whole new level. Only a month after the first trip, I once again found myself at the airport picking up my ... boyfriend.

The weekend, again, was so fun. Long distance was tricky, and because the opportunity didn't show itself very often, he braved the adventure of meeting my parents. I was darn proud of him for doing this on his second trip. I'm not sure I'd have had the courage quite yet. The 3 days passed too quickly and I was saying goodbye already as I dropped him off for his flight.

Talking a bit more we decided that I needed to meet his family as well. We started planning for me to fly down. Both of us were disappointed that we were going to have a 2 month gap in seeing each other. But at least we could call every day, and Skype fairly often.

I'd been getting excited for a weekend with my mom about a month after his 2nd visit. It was my mom's idea, and I jumped at it! My mom and I are pretty close and we hadn't spent much time together lately so she told me to block out the entire weekend to go have fun together, but she kept the rest a secret.

I showed up at her house that Friday afternoon. I had no idea what she had planned, but I was ready for a yummy lunch out followed by some sort of girly adventure. Little did I know that my mom is very good at being sneaky. I walked into her dinning room only to jump back and hide around the corner out of shock. HE was sitting at the table. Just smiling. I turned to my mom... Just smiling.

"Surprise," They both said.

Have I mentioned, I love being surprised... He nailed it!

(He had even texted me that morning to say he was out of the office again like the day before, and wouldn't have service if I tried to reach him...What a sneak! It was because he was flying to see me.)

They all got a good laugh. He and my mom had been scheming since they met a month before this little surprise.

And so the third visit was again, more fun than the ones before.

The month after flew by and I climbed onto a flight to California, ready to meet the family. We'd now spent 3 weekends together, going on 4. My “liking him” had turned into more.

Where was this going? What had we started?

Like I said last time, I could say so much more. 

I could type every detail (but won't). Come back soon for the rest of the story. 

It really is the best I've ever had the honor of sharing and being a part of as well.

2Timothy 1:7
for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

The Best Story So Far: Part 1 (Online Meet & Greet)

(Photo from winter... no, I'm not wearing scarves in this heat)

A love story, told and retold.

It will never grow dull.

It will never get old.

As I begin, I wonder how many times I'm going to walk away, come back/reread, and edit this post. And that's all I will say rather than count them all and then tell you the ridiculous number. It will be many, because I want to get this post just right: An accurate report of the events, a wonderfully dream worthy story, and pointing to the Master-Mind behind it all.

It All Began with a Post:

Little over a year ago I wrote a post called Singleness: Getting Personal Up In Here about the struggles,  pains, joys, lessons, and all other randomness I had, spilling my guts about the topic of being single. It was the most vulnerable blog post I'd ever written and I encourage you to read it before reading this post any further. 

It was packed with things I rarely discussed with anyone. (mostly because I attend a church full of people/friends who are married and starting or well into building families.) I sat quietly filing away information on diapering babes, potty training, dealing with sassiness, and good disciplining technique. I often fielded comments wondering why I wasn't married yet (as if this was my desire) followed by mention of some "great guy" to hook me up with (which was never followed through on by said mentioner). Please don't misunderstand. I love these ladies, these families, these kiddos. I'm just pointing out that the chapter of life I was in, was very different. And I longed to be married to a man of God and share life on this earth with him.

When it Rains, it Pours!

The singleness "novel" was posted on a Friday (June 14, 2013 to be exact). By the time the weekend was over, 3 different friends had connected me with 3 different guys. Two had started with, "I showed my guy friend your post" and ended with, "he's going to write to you on Facebook."

I found myself laughing when I prayed, "Lord, is this some sort of sick joke? Four years I've prayed for a husband, now 3 guys are supposedly going to write to me? What is this? Why are you getting my hopes up?"

So one per day wrote. And I answered them all. I know what you're thinking... 3 guys at once huh? Who do I think I am? Don't worry, I thought the same thing. It freaked me out. And I was in constant prayer. I asked the Lord to "Make things clear. If none of these guys were my future husband, just make them losers for goodness sake." Then I got brave. I asked the Lord, "If one of these guys IS my future husband, give him courage to pursue me even if I resist. Give him stamina to stick with it, and please please please, guide us both... because this is just weird... Facebook? Really God?" (Yes. I prayed that)

No, No, Hmmm, OK.

So this furry of multi-chatting online was short lived.

I met up with one guy quickly who lived in town. I'm sure he's a great guy. But we didn't hit it off. In a recap with the friend that connected us, we both had way different impressions of each other than what she has of either of us. But God knows what He's doing. So that was the end of one chatty-mc-chatterson.

The next nearest guy, just a town away, suddenly had a death in the family which made him unable to invest in trying to get to know someone "online," so he graciously informed me of this, and bowed out. I was bummed. I hadn't gotten to know him well, but he sure was cute. But, again, God knows what He's doing. And less-chatty-mc-chatterson was also bid adieu.

Then there was this randomly connected guy friend of a friend's friend. (yep... reread that if you must). He lived a whole state away in the big CA. I thought to put the least amount of effort into this because what are the chance of things working out. A) he's in cali... B) we met on facebook.

But this guy kept writing to me. So I kept responding. Then he'd write again. And so would I...

Who was this chum? Why is he pursuing me so much, but with so gently and full of kindness? Oh wait... Did I pray to be pursued even if I resisted? I am confident my God answers prayer. But this is just strange... isn't it? Or... is it?

A short while past. He gave me his phone number and convincingly said, "a phone call would be nice." And without thinking I replied with mine... within seconds I said... Don't Call Me.

It freaked me out. What had I done?!?!?!?! I hardly knew this guy a week! Now he has my digits. Oh! No!

His reply: No problem. I'll see how you feel about it in a week.

A week passed in no time and mid conversation online, he says, "So, How do you feel about a phone call?" So impressed by his persistence and complete accuracy with the 1 week check up, I said, "Ok"

He called that weekend and...

We talked for 3 hours.

Whaaaaaaa???

I could say so much more. I could babble and babble. But come back soon for the rest of the story. 

It really is the best I've ever had the honor of sharing and being a part of as well.

1 John 5:14-15

And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.

He is GOOD!

The fun things about this outfit:

Shirt - High School, Jeans - Buckle, Shoes - Ross

Ok, I'm so grateful for the ladies who took over last week here on Patterned Love! 

The week at camp with 16 amazing teenage girls was just that...Amazing! 

I'm excited to say that a few girls made a decision to start following Jesus.

In their decisions it reminded me every moment of the impact Jesus has made in my life.

There is in fact newness after destruction.

There is fresh air and light where darkness once strangled me.

There is never ending hope where bitterness once grew.

There is love that has replaced hatred.

Jesus truely makes me new each day! And while I know that many would rather keep compartmentalized, I cannot. This is, most days, a daily outfit recording blog. But I cannot seperate my loves and my passions into tiny boxes. They need to be interwoven in my life and always overflowing into each other! And Jesus is the first on both of those lists. My first love! My deepest passion!

His love never gives up.

It never runs out.

Ephesians 4:17-24

Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding,alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way youlearned Christ!— assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

Drink Up! {A Word Picture}

It's been crazy hot around here lately. I found myself thinking on the importance of drinking water for a second and quickly drew a parallel to life, that I'd like to share with you.

While at work I have one of those red/white twisty straw type water bottles always on my desk. (Either you know exactly what I'm talking about... or you have no clue.) 

Sometimes I fill it up and it lasts me all day. Sometimes I fill it up multiple times a day. Sometimes I fill it up and it sits there...full. Who knows why, but I forget to drink it. It might be hidden behind my laptop, or I get busy and forget it's there. Sometimes I drink it all and think I've had plenty. Then it sits for days, empty. The longer it sits there empty, the less frequently I think, "Oh, I should drink water." Funny thing is, the water cooler is only about 10 feet away from my desk. Totally within reach, right? It's not like it's difficult to walk over an fill-er-up. In fact, it's easy, it's simple, it's good for me in the long run to be drinking water.

So, as I gaze out the huge windows across the front office, and look at the beautifully sunny day outside, I started thinking. I better stay hydrated! I'm going to the river later, and what if I DIE of dehydration? Dramatic, I know, but non-the-less the thought entered my mind.

At that thought I went and filled up my bottle!

I sat back down at my desk and my Bible sat on the edge. And my over-active imagination went to work, imagining my life as a water bottle. Although in my mind my Bible looked less like a water cooler and more like a deep fountain of gloriously delish nature water.

I'm sure you're tracking with me by now. There is, once again, a wonderful word picture here.

Imagination, you never fail me!

WATER:

How often do parents say to their kids on summer days, "Drink some water before you go outside." Children whine, "why?" and parents say, "It's good for you." (well, some say, "because I said so.")

When I take high schoolers to camp during the summer, leaders always fill their students cups with water before the students even have a chance to choose a seat. Tricky tricky? No, we just want them to have water before something else to drink, because we know they're in the sun all day. Not only that, leaders fill their glass too as the example. 

Doctors and health coaches preach it all the time. Stay hydrated! It is essential for your body to function to it's fullest potential. We don't ignore them because we know their right. We do, indeed, drink water after we've been reminded by an article we read, a trainer at the gym, or... your mom. And if you're like me, regular reminders are more than welcome, because somehow we forget the importance of this essential liquid.

Sometimes when someone is visiting my house they ask if they can have some water. I sometimes always joke, "Nope, I ran out yesterday." Do they ever question it? No, they laugh and go fill their glass. Everyone knows that there is running water at our disposal whenever we want it. (in our culture anyways.)

So the parallel continues! 

How often do we convince ourselves we don't NEED to spend time in the Bible before we head out into the world for the day, where the enemy clearly is plotting against us? Would you spend the entire day out in the sun without water? It's good for you. It's good for your soul. We fill up before we go, we fill up while we're there with potential harmful heat all around us. 

How often do we encourage others to spend time in the Bible in the middle of all that is going on in life? Do we offer to walk along side them as we both dive into the Word? Some, if not all of us, need an example. Look to someone as your example, and be one to someone else.

How often do we go to church and hear truth from the pulpit only to head home without remembering what we heard? Aren't we beat after having a go at life all week? Didn't we attend church knowing we'd want to hear what was said? Why would we, parched from a day in the heat, go to a well and choose not to drink deeply from it to replenish our body? Would we stare into it and walk away thinking how lovely the well looked today, or how nicely the bucket was moving up and down, but forgetting to drink?

How often do we believe the lies that we aren't learning anything from the Bible? There is always something to learn. The Bible never runs dry. It is a constant source of encouragement, correction, and instruction. It doesn't run out.

So close so far.

So now that I've written this word picture out, I find myself asking: Why does my water bottle sit empty sometimes? The water cooler is so close to me. I guess sometimes I forget the water cooler is there. Sometimes I forget the bottle is there. Sometimes I'm just lazy or busy.

Too frequently in our lives, we find ourselves feeling lost in life. We feel overwhelmed, overworked, and stretched to thin. We're feeling dehydrated (figuratively) We forget where our source of hope lays, and where our saving grace is found. I pray often, asking that I would never forget. That I would always remember.

John 4:13-14

Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

John 7:37-38

On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” 

2 Timothy 3:16-17

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

Refashion: Sweatshirt

The fun things about this outfit:

Jeans - Thrifted, Sweatshirt - Hand-Me-Down & Refashioned, Pink Bracelet - Thrifted

Sometimes I forget how big God is. Honestly, how embarrassing to admit, but I'm sure I'm not alone. It amazes me each time He answers prayer. And, come on, He answers prayer in big way's! Sometimes in ways you never expected. Sometimes the answer scares you, because it took you by surprise. Sometime you have to sit in shock for a while before you then realize...yep, that was prayer being answered like a Boss! And sometimes, it's so obvious from the beginning that it was out of your control and 100% Him, that you can't help but through your hands up in awe. 

So right now, I'm in awe. And my hands are up. Because my God don't play.

John 14:13-14

Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.