In His perfect timing!

Greg and I were talking last night about how much our lives have changed in the past year - reflecting on how we met, our first dates, and how we ended up here (about to get married in less than 3 weeks!)

To catch you up on life - Greg and I were both part of Koinonia Christian Fellowship while we were at Clarion. Unfortunately (or fortunately, considering it still worked out for us in the end) - Greg had already graduated and moved on by the time I started to go to Koinonia. He is 4 years older than me, so we really didn't have a chance to know one another. He says he remembers me, and to give him credit he describes what I was wearing, that my hair was straight, and that I was talking on my cell phone. He's probably right about that considering I photograph EVERY little thing and I have pictures just as he described, but I really don't remember the first time I saw or met him. Although, I will admit, Ally and I had a few conversations about Greg - the cute guy playing the guitar - when he'd come back to Koinonia for occasional visits. (And a few more conversations about him that I won't mention, but really makes me laugh now!)

We'd known of each other for years and that was it. As a matter of fact, I remember a phone call from Greg a few years ago. I ignored it because I didn't know what he could possibly want, and later called him back to give him directions to the elementary school in Rimersburg. (I can admit that I ignored his call now, because he's already asked me to marry him.) We also went camping once, with a group of friends and our boyfriend/girlfriend at the time. Still nothing, we didn't even talk.

Then, in April of '08, I let my friend Keven convince me that I should play in a softball tournament with him and his friends. I really wanted to play, but my glove was at home and my car wasn't running. For once in my life, my dad AND my papa were unable to help me - and both were too busy with other things to bring their baby girl her ball glove. At the time I was so annoyed - but I think back now and wonder if that was all in God's plan, because normally I would have NO problem getting home to get my own glove or having someone in my family bring it to me. (If you know anything about my daddy and papa, you know that I always get what I want and they would do anything for me.) So why wouldn't they bring me my glove that day? I think that was also part of God's funny little plan. Instead, I had to bum a glove off of Tom - one of Greg's best friends. And that's really where it begins. (I can NOT thank Tom enough!)

I returned the glove later that day, and in casual conversation told Tom and Harold that I had lost my insurance recently. I went on to say how I was hunting for a good man with health insurance coverage for me. (IT WAS A JOKE, PEOPLE!)

Days later, I got a message on aim from Tom telling me that his friend Greg would marry me so I could have insurance. We laughed and laughed and laughed. (ANOTHER JOKE, PEOPLE!) Greg and I talked for a few minutes through Tom, and eventually messaged each other so that Tom didn't have to play the middle man. We talked for days on aim, texting, or sometimes on the phone. We were just friends and both had our own relationship issues to deal with, but he made me laugh for the first time in months. It'd been a rough couple of months for me, and it was nice to have a friend who understood where I was coming from and who had the same feelings about life and love. He was my therapist, and I like to think I helped him out a little too! ;) We quit talking for a little bit after that, deciding it was best to work out the issues in our lives without the added drama of our friendship.

Eventually, weeks later when things settled down, he called me and conveniently said he bought an extra frosty and needed someone to share it with. So, I crawled out of bed pretending to be wide awake and headed to the parking lot of Nair Hall to share a frosty with my new friend. (He's been a pretty good friend ever since, and he still brings me chocolate frosties without warning - just like last night.)

The month of May held a lot of fun things - including a random road trip to New York with Greg, Tom, and Harold. The spur of the moment trip just to take a picture at the New York state line was so refreshing. I'm a planner, and it was kind of fun to be spontaneous for a change.
Later, I had the chance to meet his closest friends, Nate and Ash. Today, Ash is one of my greatest most precious friends, a real gift from God! That summer, we planned a random road trip to the beach on the 4th of July weekend. We drove for 8 hours for a few rainy days at the beach. We'd go fishing, camping, and out to dinner with friends. Sometimes spotting and mudding in his jeep. He was just always fun - and always making me laugh.

Our summer was great, but I was still convinced we were just good friends and probably always would be. (Even if he was pretty cute.) As a matter of fact, the first time he said "I am in love with you", I said "Are you drunk?"

So when did our hearts change? Why did we spend all of those years just knowing "of" one another, but never actually talking?

Looking back, I see God's fingerprints all over it! After all, it's in His perfect timing...